*Standout football, basketball, and track & field athlete at Saginaw High School

*Named to Class A All-State team in football his junior season

*Selected Most Valuable Player in basketball and track his senior year

*Named co-Most Valuable Player in football senior year (1963)

*Received football scholarship to the University of Nebraska where he was a three-year starter at defensive end

*Played semi-pro football for two years before signing as a free agent with the Minnesota Vikings

*Starred at defensive tackle for the Buffalo Bills and played professionally for five years

*Vocation Skills Training Center named in his honor in Shreveport, Louisiana