High School Teammates
Imagine a high school football team with multiple players who are destined for the pros! Here are a few examples.
Doak Walker and Bobby Layne
Doak Walker and Bobby Layne were boyhood friends and teammates at Highland Park High School in Dallas. There is a nice story about them on the University of Texas alumni site. Both starred in the NFL and were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Walker and Layne were teammates with the Detroit Lions from 1950 to 1955, and they led the Lions to NFL Championships in 1952 and 1953. Here they are on their 1953 Bowman cards.
Del Shofner and Charlie Bradshaw
Del Shofner and Charlie Bradshaw were teammates at Center High School in Center, Texas. Both of them then went to Baylor University, and both of them had long careers in the NFL. From 1958 to 1960, they were teammates with the Los Angeles Rams. Their 1959 Bell Brand Rams cards are shown here.
John Brodie and Proverb Jacobs
John Brodie and Proverb Jacobs were teammates at Oakland Technical High School in Oakland, California. You can see them in their high school yearbook here. Brodie went on to play 17 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, leading the NFL in passing yards three times. Jacobs played six seasons in the NFL and AFL: one each with the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants, and two each with the New York Titans and Oakland Raiders. Brodie is shown here on one of his rookie cards, a 1961 Fleer. (His other rookie is a 1961 Topps.) Jacobs is shown on his 1959 Topps card.
Lou Michaels and John Paluck
Lou Michaels and John Paluck were teammates at Swoyersville High School, in Swoyersville, Pennsylvania. Michaels played a total of fourteen seasons in the NFL, and Paluck played eight with the Washington Redskins. They are shown here on their 1962 Post Cereal cards.
Herb Adderley and Angelo Coia
Herb Adderley and Angelo Coia were teammates on the football and track teams at Northeast High School in Philadelphia. Adderley went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, and Coia played seven seasons with the Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins, and Atlanta Falcons. Their 1965 Philadelphia football cards are shown here.
Joe Auer and Frank Lasky
Joe Auer and Frank Lasky were teammates at Coral Gables High School in Florida. Auer played five years of pro football with the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, and Atlanta Falcons. Lasky played for the New York Giants in 1964 and 1965. Pictured here are Auer's 1967 Topps card and Lasky's 1966 Philadelphia card. (The Atlanta Falcons acquired Lasky from the New York Giants in the 1966 NFL Expansion Draft, thus he is shown with the Falcons on this card. He never played in a regular season game for the Falcons, though.)
Buddy Humphrey and Larry Hickman
Buddy Humphrey and Larry Hickman were teammates at Kilgore (Texas) High School and at Baylor University. Humphrey played professionally from 1959 to 1966 with the Los Angeles Rams, Dallas Cowboys, St. Louis Cardinals, and Houston Oilers; his 1960 Bell Brand Rams card is shown here. Hickman played for the Chicago Cardinals in 1959 and the Green Bay Packers in 1960, then moved to Canada and played three seasons in the CFL. He is shown here on a 1961 Lake to Lake Packers card.
Gary Dunn, Neal Colzie, Glenn Cameron, and Ralph Ortega
Gary Dunn, Neal Colzie, Glenn Cameron, and Ralph Ortega were all teammates at Coral Gables High School in Florida. The four went on to play a combined 38 seasons in the NFL: Dunn with the Pittsburgh Steelers; Colzie with the Oakland Raiders, Miami Dolphins, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Cameron with the Cincinnati Bengals; and Ortega with the Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins. Dunn appears below on his 1982 Topps card, and Colzie on his 1978 Topps card. Cameron and Ortega, strangely, never appeared on NFL cards. They are shown here on their 1973 University of Florida playing cards.
Robert Brazile, Rickey Young, and Don Reese
Robert Brazile, Rickey Young, and Don Reese were teammates at Vigor High School in Prichard, Alabama. The three then played together at Jackson State, as well. As a pro, Brazile played ten seasons for the Houston Oilers and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976. Young played three seasons for the San Diego Chargers and six for the Minnesota Vikings. Reese had an eight-year pro career with the Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, San Diego Chargers, and USFL's Birmingham Stallions. Brazile is pictured here on his 1977 Topps card, Young on his 1976 Topps card, and Reese on his 1979 Coke Saints card.
