Buddy Young
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| Buddy Young | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: | January 5, 1926 |
| Place of birth: | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Date of death: | October 19, 1983 (age 57) |
| Place of death: | Terrell, Texas, United States |
| Career information | |
| Position(s): | Running Back |
| College: | Illinois |
| Organizations | |
| As player: | |
| 1947-1949 1950-1951 1952 1953-1955 |
New York Yankees (AAFC) New York Yanks Dallas Texans Baltimore Colts |
| Career highlights and Awards | |
| Pro Bowls: | 1954 |
| Stats at DatabaseFootball.com | |
| College Football Hall of Fame | |
Claude "Buddy" Young (January 5, 1926 to October 19, 1983) was a football player. A native of Chicago, the 5'5" Claude "Buddy" Young also known as the "Bronze Bullet," had exceptional quickness and acceleration. As a track star at the University of Illinois, he won the National Collegiate Championships in the 100 and a 220-yard dash, tied the world record for the 45 and 60-yard dashes, and was the Amateur Athletic Union's 100-meter champion.
Buddy was state champ in the 100-yard dash, and at the University of Illinois, he was the NCAA champion in the 100 and tied the world record (6.1) in the 60-yard dash.
He also played a little football and was equally impressive on the gridiron as well as the track. In his first game against Iowa, he scampered 64 yards for touchdown on the fist play for scrimmage. On his second carry, he ran for a 30-yard touchdown. In all, he gained 139 yards on 7 carries, an average of 19.7 yards. Before the season concluded, he had touchdowns equaling the Big Ten Conference record established by the immortal Red Grange in 1924.
A freshman running back at the University of Illinois in 1944, he captured national attention. "Not since the days when Red Grange was ripping up the sod...for Bob Zuppke and the Illini has there been so much pigskin excitement on the University of Illinois Campus."
Sportscaster Bill Stern called him "The fastest thing in cleats and the runner of the year." Ray Eliot, Young's coach, referred to him as "The best runningback I have ever seen." Only a freshman, Young was named to several All-America teams.
Football, like other aspects of American life, had to endure wartime hardships. Manpower difficulties forced NFL teams to reduce their rosters from 33 to 25. Some colleges ended football programs for the duration. And most college players had their education and playing days interrupted by wartime commitments.
In late January 1945, Young was drafted by the Navy. Initially he reported to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, but was eventually transferred to the naval base at Fleet City, California. Like many star athletes, Young played football for the service team; he didn't let the draft stop him from playing the game he loved. Coast service teams, one writer claimed, "unquestionably played the toughest football extant during the war." The personnel of the league were 30 percent All-American, 30 percent professional and 40 percent better than the average college squad."
In mid-December, the two teams met for the championship. In an earlier contest the Bluejackets, Buddy's team, had prevailed 7-0. The championship game was played in Los Angeles at Memorial Stadium before 65,000 fans. It was one of Buddy Young's greatest games. After a scoreless first quarter, Young returned a kickoff for a 94 yard touchdown. He ran back another kickoff for an 88 yard touchdown and took a hand-off from O'Rourke and scampered 30 yards for another. The Bluejackets won the game 45-28 to complete an unbeaten season. They challenged the unbeaten West Point team, but the cadets refused the invitation.
Young's performance won accolades from players, coaches, writers, and fans. Charlie O'Rourke still talks excitedly about the game and Young's ability. An opponent named Ernie stated that he had "never seen his equal" and Aldo Forte remarked: "I've seen the greatest in pro football. None can compare with Young." El Toro coach Dick Hanley, who had coached Northwestern, called Young "the greatest college back I've ever seen." Bluejackets Coach Bill Reinhart declared that he had "never seen anything like Buddy Young." Sports columnist Slip Madigan also considered Young superior to Blanchard and Davis. And comedian Bob Hope observed: "I'd heard of black magic...now I've seen it!"
Rumors circulated that once Young fulfilled his service obligation he would be drafted by the NFL or lured to UCLA to play for the Bruins. Neither proved true. Young returned to the University of Illinois and helped the Illini in the 1947 Rose Bowl. Where he was named Co-Player of the Game, after Illinois hammered UCLA, 45-14.
At 5'4", Buddy Young was, in face, he remains the shortest man ever to play pro football. Buddy Young was no freak show, though - he was the real deal. Although short, Young was not a little man. He was a cannonball with great speed and ability to change direction, which made him a real crowd pleaser, and he attributed his long NFL career to the fact that few people ever got a decent shot at him.
World War II proved a major boom to sports integration. Not only did the war promote the ideals of democracy and fair play, it also gave blacks a chance to showcase their talents on college, semi-professional and service teams. In football, three of the most talented minority athletes during the war years were Bill Willis, Marion Motley and Claude "Buddy" Young. Buddy was one of the first black men to play pro football, and he played on teams where he was one of two or three black players, and undoubtedly he had his rough spots, but his warm, bubbling personality carried him through, and made him popular with blacks and whites alike.
Over a 10 year career, he averaged close to 30 yards per kick return. Claude "Buddy" Young was perhaps the most sensational college gridiron star during the war years, and broke many barriers!
No one was smaller than Claude "Buddy" Young, who made a name for himself as a black athlete and small back 30 years before Griffin was born. Through NFL record books list Young at 5-4, 175 pounds, those who played alongside him said he probably was 10 pounds lighter and an inch shorter.
"He was like a toy football player," said Gino Marchetti, a Hall of Fame defensive end who played on the same Dallas and Baltimore Colts team as Young from 1952 to 1955. "But he could do it all. He wasn't afraid to take on a defensive end blocking, wasn't afraid to lead a play. Young looked even smaller because of the gear he refused to wear. The most amazing thing about Buddy is he had no hip pads at that time, no thigh pads and played with a pair of shoulder pads you wouldn't let your son wear, and like so many players in that era, Young refused to wear a face mask." Like former Broncos fan favorite Ed McCaffrey, who thought extra padding slowed him, Young took that notion to extremes.
Marchetti said, "Young, though well-built from the hips down, was so quick and fast he never really got hit that hard. That's what made him successful. He'd see something coming and avoid it, or go with the flow. He had great ability to juke a guy."
As the fastest player in his era, he could run the 100 in 9.4 seconds, no one could catch him. Not even a horse. Marchetti still cringes at the publicity stunt: a 100 yard race between Young and the Colts mascot staged before a scrimmage at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium.
"Buddy didn't want to do it. He thought he'd be a freak show. But he ended up putting on a little show for them," Marchetti said. "He was so quick, so fast, by the time the horse got going Buddy had him by 10 yards."
In 1947, Young signed with the New York Yankees of the All-America Football Conference. In 1950, Young along with many of the other Yankee players joined the New York Yanks of the National Football League. The Yanks folded after the 1951 NFL season and Young was assigned to the new team the Dallas Texans. The Texans also folded after the 1952 season and Young again was assigned to the team the Baltimore Colts. Young retired from football after the 1955 season.
He played ten years in pro football, the first three in the AAFC, before it "merged" with the NFL. He finished his career with the Baltimore Colts. Buddy Young was the first Colt to have his number retired and, in 1966, first African-American executive hired by the NFL. At his death in 1983 in a car crash, he was Director of Player Relations for the NFL.
[edit] External links
- Buddy Young Profile at Rosebowl Legends
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