Earl Christian Campbell (born March 29, 1955), nicknamed The Tyler Rose, is a former professional
American FootballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
running backA running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
. He,
Paul HornungPaul Vernon Hornung is a retired Hall of Fame professional football player who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1957-66...
and
O.J SimpsonOrenthal James "O. J." Simpson , nicknamed "The Juice", is a retired American collegiate and professional football player, football broadcaster, and actor...
are the only people to have won the
Heisman TrophyThe Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
, were first overall National Football League draft picks and are in both the
Pro Football Hall of FameThe Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
and
College Football Hall of FameThe College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
.
He was born in
Tyler, TexasTyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
, the sixth of eleven children. His father died when he was 11 years old. He began playing football in fifth grade as a kicker, but moved to
linebackerA linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
and then to
running backA running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
in sixth grade. In 1973, he led the
Corky NelsonCorky Nelson is a former American football player and coach. He is known for his coaching stint at the University of North Texas, but was more successful on the high school level....
-coached
John Tyler High SchoolJohn Tyler High School is a public, co-educational secondary school in Tyler, Texas. It is part of the Tyler Independent School District and serves 9th through 12th grade...
to the Texas 4A State Championship (4A then was the largest classification in the state). Then-
Oklahoma SoonersThe Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma . The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
head coach
Barry SwitzerBarry Switzer is a former football coach, active in the college and professional ranks between 1962 and 1997. He has one of the highest winning percentages of any college football coach in history, and is one of only two head coaches to win both a college football national championship and a...
, who unsuccessfully recruited Campbell, said in his 1989 book that Campbell was the only player he ever saw who could have gone straight from high school to the NFL and immediately been a star.
After his retirement, Campbell has suffered from debilitating injuries that resulted from his NFL career; he had surgery to remove three of his vertebrae, and he suffers from drop foot and persistent knee pain.
College and professional career
As a
collegiate footballCollege football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
player at the
University of Texas at AustinThe University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
, he won the
Heisman TrophyThe Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
in 1977 and led the nation in rushing with 1,744 yards. In 1977, he became the first recipient of the Davey O'Brien Memorial Trophy which was awarded to the most outstanding player in the now-defunct Southwest Conference. He was also a consensus
All-AmericaThe 1977 College Football All-America team is composed of various organizations that choose College All-America teams that season. The organizations that chose the teams were Associated Press, United Press International, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Football Writers Association of America,...
choice in 1977. Additionally, he was a First-team
All-AmericaThe 1975 College Football All-America team is composed of various organizations that choose College All-America teams that season. The organizations that chose the teams were Associated Press, United Press International, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Football Writers Association of America,...
selection by the AFCA in 1975. He was selected as the Southwest Conference running back of the year in each of his college seasons and finished with 4,444 career rushing yards.
Also while at the University of Texas, Earl Campbell was chosen as a New Man in the
Texas CowboysTexas Cowboys is an honorary men's service organization at The University of Texas at Austin. Founded in 1922, its members include some of the University's most distinguished students and alumni...
student service organization in the mid-70s. The Texas Cowboys are the student organization made up of campus leaders. They are also responsible for taking care of and firing 'Smokey' the Cannon at Texas football games.
Houston Oilers
Campbell was the first draft pick overall in the
1978 NFL DraftThe 1978 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 2–3, 1978...
by the
Houston OilersThe Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
, and in that year he was named the
Offensive Rookie of the YearSince 1967, the Associated Press has given two annual Rookie of the Year Awards to National Football League players: one for an offensive player and one for a defensive player. These two are often regarded as the "official" awards...
by the
Associated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
as well as the NFL Offensive Player of the Year. The
Luv Ya Blue"Luv Ya Blue" was the term given to a movement by fans of the Houston Oilers of the National Football League in the late 1970s that featured fight songs, pom-poms and other features more reminiscent of the college game than the NFL.- Coining of the term :...
era in Houston was due mostly to Campbell's running ability and Coach
Bum PhillipsOail Andrew "Bum" Phillips is a retired American football coach and the father of Wade Phillips, the Defensive Coordinator for the Houston Texans...
' "good ole boy" personality.
Campbell possessed a rare combination of speed and power, and was a prolific running back from
1978The 1978 NFL season was the 59th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season from a 14-game schedule to 16. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams by adding another wild card from each conference...
through
1985The 1985 NFL season was the 66th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XX when the Chicago Bears defeated the New England Patriots.-Major rule changes:...
. His outstanding single-season performance in 1979 earned him All-Pro,
Pro BowlIn professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
, and
NFL Offensive Player of the YearThe NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award is given annually by the Associated Press to the offensive player of the National Football League believed to have had the most outstanding season...
honors. It was also the second of three consecutive seasons in which he led the league in rushing. Only Jim Brown had previously accomplished that feat. Campbell led the NFL in rushing in
1978The 1978 NFL season was the 59th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season from a 14-game schedule to 16. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams by adding another wild card from each conference...
,
1979The 1979 NFL season was the 60th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XIV when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams...
, and
1980The 1980 NFL season was the 61st regular season of the National Football League.After the league declined to approve the proposed move by the Raiders from Oakland, California to Los Angeles, the team along with the Los Angeles Coliseum sued the NFL for violating antitrust laws...
. He played in five Pro Bowls and finished his career with
9,407 yards and 74 touchdowns rushing along with 806 yards on 121 receptions. In 1980, Campbell's best year in the NFL, he ran for 1,934 yards including four 200-yard rushing games, including a personal best 206 yards against the
Chicago BearsThe Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Despite playing against stacked defenses Campbell managed to average 5.2 yards per carry and score 13 rushing touchdowns in 1980 alone.
New Orleans Saints
In
1984The 1984 NFL season was the 65th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to Indianapolis, Indiana....
, he was traded to the
New Orleans SaintsThe New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
, reuniting him with his former Oilers coach
O.A. "Bum" PhillipsOail Andrew "Bum" Phillips is a retired American football coach and the father of Wade Phillips, the Defensive Coordinator for the Houston Texans...
. The trade was controversial in New Orleans, as it was widely believed that Campbell's skills had diminished, and the Saints already had the young
George RogersGeorge Washington Rogers is a former American football player who achieved distinction in both the college and professional ranks as a running back...
in the backfield. Campbell played in a diminished role in
1984The 1984 NFL season was the 65th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to Indianapolis, Indiana....
and
1985The 1985 NFL season was the 66th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XX when the Chicago Bears defeated the New England Patriots.-Major rule changes:...
, and retired during the preseason of
1986The 1986 NFL season was the 67th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXI when the New York Giants defeated the Denver Broncos to win their first league title in 30 years.-Major rule changes:...
, feeling that the beating he had taken during his career had taken too much of a toll, a toll which has become apparent in his life today (see below).
Legacy
Campbell is widely acknowledged as one of the best power backs in NFL history. Described as a "one-man demolition team", Campbell was a punishing runner. His 34 inches (863.6 mm) thighs, 5-11, 244-pound frame, coupled with 4.5 speed, made him the most feared runner of his time. Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame defensive tackle
Joe GreeneCharles Edward Greene, known as “Mean Joe” Greene, is a former all-pro American football defensive tackle who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. Throughout the early 1970s he was the one of most dominant defensive players in the National Football League...
claimed that Campbell could inflict more damage on a team than any other back he ever faced.
Former Heisman Trophy winner and
Miami DolphinsThe Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
player
Ricky WilliamsErrick Lynne "Ricky" Williams, Jr. is an American football running back for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints fifth overall in the 1999 NFL Draft...
was often compared to Campbell during Williams' days as a player with The University of Texas Longhorns. Even now, short running backs that use powerful legs to their advantage are occasionally nicknamed "Little Earl", for example
Maurice Jones-DrewMaurice Christopher Jones-Drew is a professional American football player who currently plays running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League . He was drafted in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft...
of the
Jacksonville JaguarsThe Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
,
Ahmad BradshawAhmad Bradshaw is an American football running back for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the New York Giants...
of the
New York GiantsThe New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
or most recently to some publicity with
Gary RussellGary Russell is an American football running back for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2007...
of the
University of MinnesotaThe University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
.
The pride that prodded Campbell to stretch out every run over eight grueling seasons for the Oilers and New Orleans Saints also might have been responsible for his relatively short career. All of the pounding he absorbed, all of the bone-jarring blows from second, third and fourth tacklers wore down his body and prompted a premature drop-off in performance. Debate still rages as to whether Coach
Bum PhillipsOail Andrew "Bum" Phillips is a retired American football coach and the father of Wade Phillips, the Defensive Coordinator for the Houston Texans...
hastened the end of Campbell's career by overworking him; nevertheless, the consensus is clear that during Campbell's heyday, few running backs were as productive or imposing.
Honors
In 1999, he was ranked number 33 on
The Sporting NewsSporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranked player for the Houston Oilers franchise. In 2007, he was ranked #12 on ESPN's Top 25 Players In College Football History list.
Campbell, The University of Texas’ first Heisman Trophy winner in 1977, was honored at halftime against Ohio State on September 9, 2006 including the unveiling of a 9 feet (2.7 m) statue of Campbell in the southwest corner of Royal-Memorial Stadium. The same year, Campbell graced the cover of
Dave Campbell's Texas FootballDave Campbell's Texas Football is an annual publication, previewing football teams in the state of Texas.It is unique in that it is the only publication to preview every team in Texas , from the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans, through every level of college football, to the roughly 1,400...
, an honor that eluded him during his playing days.
In 1977, he became the first recipient of the Davey O'Brien Memorial Trophy which was named after the great TCU quarterback
Davey O'BrienRobert David O'Brien was an American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at Texas Christian University and was drafted in the first round of the 1939 NFL Draft. In 1938, O'Brien won the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, and the...
. The trophy was awarded to the most outstanding player in the Southwest Conference.
Personal life
Due to the many carries in his NFL career and numerous hits on his body, Campbell has great difficulty walking and sometimes requires the use of a
wheelchairA wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
. In 2004,
ESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
showed a segment about retired and current NFL players who deal with chronic injuries due to playing in the NFL over a number of years. The segment showed Earl Campbell at a farm using a wheelchair. Campbell has developed severe arthritis in his knees and has debilitating back pain. He attributes his back pain to a congenital back condition aggravated by his football career.
A profile in the
Austin American-StatesmanThe Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is an award-winning publication owned by Cox Enterprises. The Newspaper places focus on issues affecting Austin and the Central Texas region....
in December 2007 describes Campbell's daily struggle with his back pain, and states that he had surgery to remove three large bone spurs.
Earl is now a prominent businessman residing in Austin, Texas and still actively participates in University of Texas Athletics. Earl Campbell currently serves as President of Earl Campbell Meat Products, Inc. which manufactures and sells Earl Campbell's Smoked Sausage and other food products and
barbecue sauceBarbecue sauce is a flavoring sauce or condiment ranging from watery to very thick consistency. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to barbecued foods. While it can be applied to any food, it usually tops meat after cooking or during barbecuing, grilling, or baking...
. Campbell and his associates also opened a restaurant on Sixth Street in Austin, Earl Campbell's Lone Star BBQ, but it closed in 2001.
Career rushing statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Attempts | Yards | YPC | TDs |
| 1978 The 1978 NFL season was the 59th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season from a 14-game schedule to 16. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams by adding another wild card from each conference...
|
Houston OilersThe Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
|
15 |
302 |
1,450 |
4.8 |
13 |
| 1979 The 1979 NFL season was the 60th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XIV when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams...
|
Houston Oilers |
16 |
368 |
1,697 |
4.6 |
19 |
| 1980 The 1980 NFL season was the 61st regular season of the National Football League.After the league declined to approve the proposed move by the Raiders from Oakland, California to Los Angeles, the team along with the Los Angeles Coliseum sued the NFL for violating antitrust laws...
|
Houston Oilers |
15 |
373 |
1,934 |
5.2 |
13 |
| 1981 The 1981 NFL season was the 62nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XVI when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals.-Major rule changes:...
|
Houston Oilers |
16 |
361 |
1,376 |
3.8 |
10 |
| 1982 The 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. A 57-day long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to an abbreviated nine game schedule...
|
Houston Oilers |
9 |
157 |
538 |
3.4 |
2 |
| 1983 The 1983 NFL season was the 64th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XVIII when the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins.-Major rule changes:...
|
Houston Oilers |
14 |
322 |
1,301 |
4.0 |
12 |
| 1984 The 1984 NFL season was the 65th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to Indianapolis, Indiana....
|
Houston Oilers |
8 |
50 |
190 |
3.8 |
0 |
| |
New Orleans SaintsThe New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
|
6 |
96 |
278 |
2.9 |
4 |
| |
1984 Total |
14 |
146 |
468 |
3.4 |
4 |
| 1985 The 1985 NFL season was the 66th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XX when the Chicago Bears defeated the New England Patriots.-Major rule changes:...
|
New Orleans Saints |
16 |
158 |
643 |
4.1 |
1 |
| Career |
|
118 |
2,187 |
9,407 |
4.3 |
74 |
External links