Delaware Football Hall of Fame

Waller, Blaney, Oddo, Murphy, Allen, Buchanan, Alexander, Bucci, LaFazia, Henry, Hicks, Scott, Cox, Hall, Strengari, Swann, White, Michaels, Harris, Ranaulto, Delledonne, Hunter, Dominelli, Brown, Szczerba, Still, Merrell, Perillo, Apostolico, manny more!

                        Who should be on the First             Delaware Football Hall of Fame

# 1, Eddie "Whitey" Michaels 

"The Delaware Football Hall of Fame" 

This will be the FIRST "CANDIDATE" for "The Delaware Football Hall of Fame"

Ed "Whitey"Michaels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date of birth: June 11, 1914(1914-06-11)

(Sorry, we don't have a photo, if anyone does, please send it) 

Place of birth: Wilmington, Delaware

Date of death: January 1976 (age 61)

Career information

Position(s): Guard

College: Villanova

NFL Draft: 1936 / Round: 2 / Pick: 14

Organizations

As player:

1936

1937

1943

1944-1946 Chicago Bears

Washington Redskins

Phil-Pitt Steagles

Philadelphia Eagles

Playing stats at NFL.com

Edward Joseph Michaels (born Mikolajewski) (June 11, 1914 – January 1976) was an American football guard in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears, the Washington Redskins, and the Philadelphia Eagles. Michaels also played on the "Steagles", a merged team consisting of the Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers in 1943. The team was the result of a league-wide manning shortage brought on by World War II. Many of the "Steagles" players were labeled 4-F's, those deemed physically unfit due to ailments such as ulcers, flat feet and even partial blindness. Michaels was labeled a 4F because he was nearly deaf. Eddie was one of , (if not the last player) to play pro ball without a HELMET!

He played college football and coached at Villanova University and was drafted in the second round of the 1936 NFL Draft.

Eddie Michaels:

Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS AV

1936 22 CHI LG 12 7

1937 23 WAS 11 3

1943 29 PHI RG 10 9

1944 30 PHI rg 10 6

1945 31 PHI LG 9 8

1946 32 PHI LG 10 5

Career 62 38

4 yrs PHI 39 28

In 1976, he was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame.

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# 2, Ronnie Waller

Ron Waller (born February 14, 1933 in Hastings, Florida) was a National Football League running back for the Los Angeles Rams from 1955 through 1958 and for the American Football League's Los Angeles Chargers in 1960. He was the head coach of the NFL's San Diego Chargers for the final six games of the 1973 season.

Prior to his professional career, Waller played for Laurel High School and the University of Maryland. He was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 1977.

 

Ron Waller

Date of birth February 14, 1933 (1933-02-14) (age 78)

Place of birth Hastings, Florida}

Position(s) Running Back

College Maryland

NFL Draft 1955 / Round 2 / Pick 15

Jersey Number 27

Career highlights

NFL Pro Bowl 1959

Awards 1977 Delaware Sports Hall of Fame

Stats

Statistics Pro Football Reference

DatabaseFootball

 

Teams

1955-1958

1960 NFL Los Angeles Rams

AFL Los Angeles Chargers

 

 

 

 

# 3,  Randy White

Randall Lee "Randy" White (born January 15, 1953) is a former American football defensive lineman and linebacker. He attended the University of Maryland from 1971 to 1974, and played professionally for the Dallas Cowboys from 1975 to 1988. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame

College career

Randy was recruited by Maryland out of Thomas McKean High School in Wilmington, Delaware and played as a fullback during his freshman year. While Maryland finished the year with only 2 wins, White did little worth noting during that year. During his sophomore season, new head coach Jerry Claiborne moved Randy to defensive end, noting that he had the skill to be "one of the best five linemen in the U.S." The move was a natural fit, as by his senior year, he was, as Claiborne put it, "as fast as some of the offensive backs I had coached." In that senior year (1974), he won numerous awards and honors, including the Outland Trophy, the Lombardi Award, and the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year. Though Maryland lost in the Liberty Bowl that season to Tennessee, Randy was named the game's Most Valuable Player. In 1994, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and in 2000 was named to ABC sports All-time All-America Team.

 Professional career

Drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 1975, he was moved to middle linebacker, where he was a backup to Cowboy legend Lee Roy Jordan, playing mostly on special teams his first two seasons, including his rookie season when Dallas lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl X. Jordan retired following the 1976 season, and his slot was filled by Bob Breunig, who held the position the next nine seasons. During his third season (1977), White was moved to right defensive tackle, the same position formerly occupied by "Mr. Cowboy", Bob Lilly, from 1961 through 1974, a move which in turn allowed veteran Larry Cole to return to his natural defensive end position.

That year would prove to be his breakout year; he was named to his first All-Pro team, his first Pro Bowl, and (on his 25th birthday) was named co-MVP of Super Bowl XII with teammate Harvey Martin, making him one of only seven defensive players to win that honor. He would continue that success, being named to nine consecutive All-Pro and Pro Bowl teams. He would retire in 1988 (coincidentally, also the last season on the sidelines for original Cowboys coach Tom Landry), having played 209 games in 14 seasons, only missing one game during that span. At the time of his retirement, he had played the second most of any Dallas Cowboy in history. During those 14 years, he played in three Super Bowls, six NFC Championship Games, and accumlated 1,104 tackles (701 solo) and 111 sacks. His highest single season sack total was 16 in 1978. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994.

 Awards and honors

 Personal

                                                         

 

# 4, Creighton Miller
 
 
Coach Frank Leahy frequently called Creighton Miller "the greatest running back I have ever coached."

For a coach who worked with at least six other backfield All-Americans, this was high praise indeed.

Miller was not discovered by Leahy. Creighton was already on campus when Leahy arrived in 1941. And unlike most of the players on the freshman squad in 1940, Miller was not even recruited, nor did he receive an athletic scholarship to play until his career was almost finished.

Not recruited?

That's not exactly accurate. Creighton and his older brother (by two years) had been "noticed" by one of the all-time Notre Dame great backs, their father Harry "Red" Miller of the great 1909 "Champions of the West" team.

"Neither Tom nor I had a choice of colleges to attend," says Creighton with a smile, "My father simply told us what time the train left for South Bend. And he added, 'and you better be on it.' "

Harry Miller was the first of five Defiance, Ohio, brothers to attend and play for Notre Dame. Last was younger brother Don, who became one of the memorable Four Horsemen for coach Knute Rockne. Unlike the other Millers, Creighton and Tom did not come from Ohio, but from Wilmington, Del., where father Harry was an attorney for the DuPont Corp.

When the Millers moved to Delaware, they both played at Alexis I. DuPont High school, where Tom earned 10 letters and Creighton 13 in four sports, played with the great Jim Buchanan, later a Delaware great!

"I don't think either of us would have been highly recruited or 'blue chip' athletes," said Creighton.

Creighton was listed as a fullback as a freshman. And, as it turned out, he was one of only four of coach Elmer Layden's freshmen to move up and play in the undefeated (8-0-1) season of 1941.

Creighton Miller was not one of Leahy's favorites, because he couldn't pass the physical due to high blood pressure. That meant he missed spring football. But after a doctor's OK in August, Creighton joined the team.

He played little in 1941 as a fullback in the Notre Dame box formation. When the Leahy staff switched to the T-formation in 1942, Creighton became a left halfback and a great threat with the quick-hitting bursts off tackle.

Father Harry Miller was paying the bills for sons Tom and Creighton, but after many Leahy pleas, father Harry relented and Creighton became a scholarship player. That meant he was at the beck and call of the football staff and couldn't take off on spring afternoons to play golf.

Miller insists that his golfing afternoons were exaggerated by his teammates, but Leahy later insisted that "Creighton became a much better player when he had the full measure of spring and fall practice. He was so quick that he would get to the hole before it opened when he was a junior, but with practice, his timing became almost perfect."

Actually, Creighton did not practice in the spring of 1943. He was drafted into the Army, but by August, the Army decided the high blood pressure was too much of a risk. And Creighton came back to campus.

Football plans for 1943 were in a state of flux because of military call-ups. Leahy actually didn't know who would be available. Eventually, Angelo Bertelli was available for six games of the season, and Jim Mello was back at fullback.

Creighton was the top ball carrier in the nation with 911 yards in 1943 and the Irish won Leahy's first national championship, despite a last-minute loss to Great Lakes.

The big game was against No. 2 Michigan in Ann Arbor. And with father Harry cheering on every one of the 159 yards (in 10 carries) by Creighton, the Irish won easily. Harry had been the star in 1909, in the preceding N.D. visit to Ann Arbor.

Player Creighton then became coach Creighton as an assistant under interim leader Ed McKeever in 1944. And McKeever sent Creighton to Great Lakes to scout and become familiar with Paul Brown, who was coaching at Great Lakes.

The two Ohioans hit it off and Brown and Miller became friends. Creighton was hired by Mickey McBride, the founder of the new Cleveland Browns entry in the All-American Football League.

One of Creighton's duties for the new team was to seek out a coach. Brown, Leahy and a couple of others were on Creighton's list. And Brown expressed an interest and became the new coach.

Creighton, although still unofficially with the Browns, entered Yale Law School and assisted Howie Odell, the Yale head coach. Creighton received his Yale law degree in 1947 and returned to Cleveland.

Later, Abe Gibron and George Ratterman sought out Creighton to help organize a players' association. And a bit later, Creighton helped veteran player Frank Gatski in a retirement contract squabble with Brown.

"I think this caused Brown to have me removed from an earlier Browns team photo," Creighton laughed.

Miller has been a Cleveland attorney for more than 50 years, and one of his clients through the years has been George Steinbrenner, the shipping magnate who later became owner of the New York Yankees.

Creighton stays active (mostly as a golfer) in NFL Alumni affairs, and has been a regular at College Football Hall of Fame activities since his induction in 1976.

Creighton's great 1943 season has dropped out of the Notre Dame record books, but no one can doubt his starring role in the great years of Irish football in the 1940s.

 

Creighton of course has passed away but still remembered, especially at A.I. duPont High!


Creighton Miller, 79, Lawyer And Notre Dame Halfback

By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN
Published: May 29, 2002

Creighton Miller, an all-American halfback who was a member of a prominent Notre Dame football family and later helped organize the National Football League Players Association as its lawyer, died last week in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He was 79.

Miller's body was found Friday at his apartment after he had been absent from his law office in Cleveland. He had a heart attack, said Dr. Elizabeth Balraj, the Cuyahoga County coroner.

Miller starred for the 1943 Notre Dame squad that was 9-1 and ranked No. 1 in the country. He led the nation in rushing, gaining 911 yards, scored 13 touchdowns and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting, which was won by Angelo Bertelli, the Notre Dame quarterback.

Miller's father, Harry, was the Notre Dame football captain in 1908 and an all-American halfback in 1909. Four uncles played for Notre Dame, most notably Don Miller, one of the Four Horsemen, the famous 1924 backfield. His uncle Ray was an end for Notre Dame in 1911 and '12 and mayor of Cleveland in the early 1930's. His brother Tom, a halfback, was his teammate in 1941 and '42.

 

 

                                                                                      

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