Bobby Layne
| Bobby Layne | |
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Positions: quarterback / kicker |
Jersey number (s): 22 |
| born December 19, 1926 in Santa Anna , Texas | |
| died on December 1, 1986 in Lubbock , Texas | |
| Career information | |
| Active : 1948 - 1962 | |
| NFL Draft : 1948 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3 | |
| College : Texas | |
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| Career statistics | |
| TD - INT | 196-243 |
| Gaining space through passing play | 26,768 yards |
| Quarterback rating | 63.4 |
| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Pro Football Hall of Fame | |
| College Football Hall of Fame | |
Robert Lawrence "Bobby" Layne (* 19th December 1926 in Santa Anna , Texas ; † 1. December 1986 in Lubbock , Texas), nicknamed "Gadabout Gladiator" was a US American football poker players. He played as a quarterback and as a kicker in the National Football League (NFL). He celebrated his greatest successes with the Detroit Lions .
youth
Bobby Layne was born in Santa Anna. When he was six years old, his father died and he moved to live with an uncle in Fort Worth . After his mother died at the age of eight, he was raised alone by his uncle and his family. The family later moved to Dallas . Bobby Layne also attended high school there and met his future teammate with the Detroit Lions, Doak Walker , at school. He remained friends with Walker until his death. Together with Walker, Layne played American football at school, initially in the position of a guard , but later on in the position of a tailback . In his senior year at school he played with his football team in the play-offs of the state championship and was elected to the national team. In 1944, Robert Layne was that during his school years as a baseball player had drawn attention to himself, a baseball scholarship at the University of Texas at Austin .
Player career
College career
Robert Layne studied at the University of Texas from 1944 to 1948 . He played there on the baseball team, as well as quarterback on the football team . In 1945 he served briefly in the US Navy but then returned to college and led his football team to the Conference Championship and the Cotton Bowl . The game against the University of Missouri was won 40:26. Layne scored four touchdowns in the game . He was then named the game's Most Valuable Player (MVP). After the 1947 season, Layne led his team to the Sugar Bowl . The game against the University of Alabama was won 27: 7. Layne was also successful in this game. He achieved with a pass a space gain of 99 yards , which could be used by his teammate for a touchdown. He scored another touchdown with his own run into the end zone of the opposing team. Even after the game against the University of Alabama, he was declared an MVP. After the season, he was also appointed All American .
Layne was also successful as a baseball player in college. He pitched for his college baseball team for four years . His 39 victories during his student days faced seven defeats. In 1946 he got two no-hitters . In 1948 he successfully completed his sports studies and then briefly played baseball in a lower class baseball league . He retired as a baseball player in favor of a career as a football player after he realized that professional clubs were interested in his commitment.
Professional career
Bobby Layne was drafted third in the first round by the Chicago Bears in 1948 . The Baltimore Colts from the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) also wanted to sign Layne and selected him in the AAFC Draft. They offered Layne one annual salary of 77,000 US dollars to. However, this accepted the lower endowed offer of the NFL club, as he held the NFL for the more established league. Layne's career began with little prospect. The head coach and owner of the Bears, George Halas , initially only used him as a substitute behind Sid Luckman and gave him after the season for $ 50,000 in cash and two future first-round draft rights to the New York Bulldogs .
Layne had a disastrous second season in New York City . His team lost ten of twelve games, he himself could only achieve nine touchdowns out of 18 interceptions . After that season, Layne was about to retire, but was then given up to the Detroit Lions . Layne's rise to a top player began. In 1950 Doak Walker was signed by the Lions and in 1951 Buddy Parker took over the coaching office for the Detroit team . In the years 1950 to 1952, the Lions signed other top players such as Pat Harder , Lou Creekmur , Yale Lary and Jack Christiansen . The first title win for Layne was not long in coming with this team.
After the regular season in 1952, Bobby Layne moved with his team for the first time in the play-offs and the NFL championship game . In the NFL final, the Cleveland Browns were defeated 17-7. Layne scored a touchdown by running into the opposing end zone. The following year, the Lions were able to defend their title and again won the NFL final against the Browns 17:16. In this game, too, Bobby Layne managed a touchdown. The game year 1954 was also a successful one for the Lions. Bobby Layne led his team into the third game in a row. The final against long-term rivals from Cleveland went bad for Layne. He threw six interceptions and was thus instrumental in the 56:10 defeat of his team.
In 1957, George Wilson became the Lions' coach and Layne won his third league title. Again the Browns were the final opponent and again they had to admit defeat to the Lions. This time they lost clearly with 59:14. Bobby Layne did not get any time in this game, however, he broke his leg three game days earlier and was replaced by Tobin Rote .
Tobin Rote had convinced the Lions coach in his first final. Wilson planned to use the two playmakers alternately for the 1958 season. This was a condition that was unacceptable to Layne. Buddy Parker was meanwhile coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers . He managed to commit Layne during the 1958 season. With the Steelers, however, Layne could no longer move into a final. After the 1962 season, Bobby Layne ended his playing career.
Robert Layne not only won three championship titles, he also achieved several bests of the year. In 1951 he threw 152 passes for a gain of 2403 yards. 26 of his passes could be used by his teammates for touchdowns. After his career, he held numerous career bests - such as the record for most touchdowns or the best value for the total space gained. Bobby Layne was considered a tough player who never lost a game and always wanted to win. Doak Walker explained about his friend: "Bobby never lost a game. Some days, time just ran out on him" (German: "Bobby Layne never lost a game, some days he just ran out of time" ). In spite of his sporting commitment, Layne was known to be very enthusiastic about drinking and who never missed a party. He was arrested in 1957. The police accused him of driving his car while drunk. Layne was not punished for this. During the trial, he was able to give credible assurance that only his Texan dialect was responsible for his slurred pronunciation during the police check.
After the playing career
Immediately after his playing career, Layne became an assistant coach with the Steelers and the St. Louis Cardinals . Layne married while he was still a student and had two sons. After he also finished his coaching career, he became a businessman in Lubbock, his wife's hometown. Bobby Layne died of liver cancer . He is buried in the City of Lubbock Cemetery.
Honors
Bobby Layne played five times in the Pro Bowl and was voted All-Pro six times . His number is no longer given by the Lions. Bobby Layne is a member of the NFL 1950s All-Decade Team , Texas Sports Hall of Fame , Longhorn Hall of Honor, Pro Football Hall of Fame, and College Football Hall of Fame .
Web links
- Biography I.
- Biography II
- Website about Bobby Layne
- Bobby Layne in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame
- Baseball statistics
literature
- Jonathan Rand: The Gridirons's Greatest Quarterbacks. Sports Pub., Champaign IL 2004, ISBN 1-58261-322-2 .
- Bob St. John: Heart of a Lion. The Wild and Woolly Life of Bobby Layne. Taylor, Dallas TX 1991, ISBN 0-87833-744-X .
Individual evidence
- ^ Course of the game Cotton Bowl 1946 ( Memento from June 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Annual statistics of the New York Bulldogs 1948
- ↑ 1952 Lions Annual Statistics
- ↑ NFL final 1952 statistics
- ↑ 1953 Lions Annual Statistics
- ↑ NFL final 1953 statistics
- ^ 1954 annual Lions statistics
- ^ NFL final 1954 statistics
- ↑ 1957 Lions Annual Statistics
- ↑ 1957 NFL final statistics
- ↑ Bobby Layne's grave
| personal data | |
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| SURNAME | Layne, Bobby |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Layne, Robert Lawrence |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American football player and coach, baseball player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 19, 1926 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Santa Anna , Texas |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1st December 1986 |
| Place of death | Lubbock , Texas |