Eddie LeBaron
Eddie, a quarterback, played 11 season in the National Football League (NFL), until 1963, and was an all-star (Pro Bowl) four times.
Prior to playing pro football, he was a three time Little All-American at the University of Pacific ("Little" for the size of his school, not his height). Eddie played quarterback, safety, and he was a punter and a ball carrier.
Eddie is now in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Yet as great a player as Eddie was, here is the really interesting thing:
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He was just 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighed about 160 pounds, making him one of the smallest quarterbacks in NFL history.
Many of the other players were a head taller than Eddie and outweighed him by 100 pounds or more. He was dwarfed by the giant players that surrounded him, unable to see over them.
So how did Eddie become such a great player?
He scrambled. When quarterbacks drop back to pass, they are in a pocket of protective blockers. But because Eddie couldn't see over them, he ran every which direction looking downfield for his receivers.
Amazingly, he had a long career in the NFL, despite being tackled by huge players.
But then there was a lot about Eddie that was amazing.
Eddie fought in the Korean War as a Marine Corps lieutenant, and was twice wounded, presented with two Purple Hearts and he was awarded the Bronze Star for valor.
Later during his years playing pro football, Eddie also attended law school at George Washington University, receiving his law degree in 1959, eventually becoming an attorney.
In addition, Eddie was a land developer, a brokerage firm manager, a CBS television broadcaster and an executive for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons
Eddie also counseled returning Marine veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
But his greatest accomplishment was that for 60 years he was married to Doralee and the father of their three sons, and a grandfather and a great-grandfather, before passing away at the age of 85 in 2015.
When asked by an interviewer how he succeeded in football despite his lack of size he replied, "The big thing was the ability to move. If you have the ability to move and the intelligence to know how to read the defenses, you can find the [passing] lanes."
