Floyd Little, the great runner who starred in Syracuse and the Denver Broncos, died. He was 78 years old.
The Professional Football Hall of Fame said he died Friday night at home in Nevada. No cause was given.
“Floyd Little was not only a Hall of Fame runner, he was a Hall of Fame person,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. “Faith, family and football were the pillars of his life.”
Little was three times All-American in Syracuse, where he used the number 44 as Jim Brown and Ernie Davis before him. From 1964 to 1966, he ran for 2,704 yards and 46 touchdowns.
Originally from New Haven, Connecticut, he was the sixth overall pick in the 1967 AFL-NFL draft. He played nine seasons in Denver, where he earned the nickname “The Franchise” because his signing was credited with preventing the team from moving and helped persuade voters to approve funding for the old and iconic Mile High Stadium, which has since been replaced by Empower. Camp at Mile High.
“I know when I got there, the conversation was about moving the team to Chicago or Birmingham,” Little told AP in an interview in 2009. “Then I supposedly saved the franchise, and I think (the team exporter) Jim Saccomano gave me that nickname. It’s been part of my name ever since. “
Little was elected a Fellow of the University Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and of the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
“Floyd Little was a true hero of the game,” said David Baker, president and executive director of the professional room. “He was a man of great integrity, passion and courage. His off-field contributions were even greater than his amazing successes in him. Floyd’s smile, heart and character personified what it meant to have a life at the Hall of Fame “.
Five-time Pro Bowler, Little led the NFL in ground running in 1971 with 1,133 yards and in scoring in 1973 with 12. He was also one of the best kickers in the league, leading the AFL in rookie returns as a rookie. in 1967.
During his nine-year career, Little ran for 6,323 yards and 43 touchdowns and caught 215 passes for 2,418 yards and nine touchdowns. He had the most all-purpose yards in professional football and finished second only behind OJ Simpson in ground yards in his career.
After a three-decade wait, Little arrived in Guangzhou in 2010. When he was nominated by the high-level committee of the room, he told the AP that he had lost hope of ever reaching the Hall of Fame.
“I was running out of guys who had seen me play,” Little said, the career in Denver spanning the years 1967-1975, tough times in the history of the former AFL franchise. “People who had seen me play were starting to fade and retire. All these guys were no longer there, so who’s going to talk about Floyd Little? Nobody. I thought I’d fallen for the cracks and they would never see me or know about him again. “
He was never forgotten in Denver, where the late team owner, Pat Bowlen, once praised Little’s “immeasurable contributions to this franchise and the NFL.”
Little was a vibrant presence at Broncos meetings and events over the years.
During his long wait for consecration, Little said that fans regularly approached him to settle a bet: In what year did he enter the Hall of Fame?
“And I have to tell them I’m not at the Hall of Fame and I haven’t even been nominated,” Little said in the months leading up to his selection on Feb. 6, 2010.
Little decided not to make any more illusions and a few years later, the senior committee nominated him, which allowed him to dream again about the immortality of football. On the eve of his selection, he said he had had the premonition that his time would finally come.
“It’s the 44th Super Bowl,” Little said in 2010. “An African American has just become our 44º president. I put on the No. 44. I feel like it’s my moment.”
He was right: Room Vice President Joe Horrigan called him with the good news the day before New Orleans’ 31-17 victory over Indianapolis in the Super Bowl.
“I was numb,” Little said. “I knew he wasn’t calling me to tell me they’d overlooked me again.”
Little said he learned a valuable lesson that day: “Well, don’t give up on your dreams,” even if it’s to alleviate the pain of planned rejection.
Little, who had sold his car dealership in Seattle after 32 years shortly before his nomination, returned to Syracuse the following year as special assistant to the athletic director, a position he held until 2016, when he received an honorary doctorate from the University.
After that, Little and his wife moved to Las Vegas.
A former Little ‘sa Syracuse teammate, Pat Killorin, made Little’s cancer diagnosis public in May when he created a GoFundMe page to help the family with the costs of treatment.
Floyd is survived by his wife, Deborah.