Lawrence Dale Isbell (January 8, 1930 – October 31, 1978) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

player. He was one of the rare players to be

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n in both baseball and in football. He was an All-American

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

in 1951, when he guided the

Baylor Bears football The Baylor Bears football team represents Baylor University in Division I (NCAA)#Football Bowl Subdivision, Division I FBS college football. They are a member of the Big 12 Conference. After 64 seasons at the off-campus Baylor Stadium, renamed F ...

team to the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

; he threw for 26 career touchdowns in college. In 1952, he was named the All-American

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

by the

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest Amateur baseball in the United States, amateur baseball Manager (baseball), coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coach ...

. That season, he set a school record with a .431 average; through 2008, he still ranked second in

Baylor Bears baseball The Baylor Bears baseball team represents Baylor University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team belongs to the Big 12 Conference and plays home games at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears are currently led by head coach Mitch Thompson, who was ...

annals for best single-season average, behind

Mickey Sullivan Mickey Sullivan (February 6, 1932 – March 22, 2012) was the head baseball coach at Baylor Bears baseball, Baylor from 1974 to 1994. Early life Sullivan was born in Aransas Pass, Texas on February 6, 1932 to Alva Sullivan and Effie Sullivan, ...

. Isbell played

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

and

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

organizations. He also played five years of professional football in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

with the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

. He is a member of the

Texas Sports Hall of Fame The Texas Sports Hall of Fame recognizes sportsperson, athletes, coach (sport), coaches, and administrators who have made "lasting fame and honor to Sports in Texas, Texas sports". It was established in 1951 by the Texas Sports Writers Association ...

. His older brothers Cody and

Cecil Isbell Cecil Frank Isbell (July 11, 1915 – June 23, 1985) was an American football quarterback and coach. He played 5 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers, leading them to the NFL Championship in 1939 NFL Champion ...

played football for Purdue and

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

respectively his younger brother William Adger "Dub" Isbell Jr. played football at

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

Professional playing career

The

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

picked Isbell in the first round of the

1952 NFL draft The 1952 NFL draft was held on January 17, 1952, at Hotel Statler in New York. Selections made by New York Yanks were assigned to the new Dallas Texans. This was the sixth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery ...

(He had the same draft position, #7, as his brother Cecil, making them perhaps the only pair of brothers to be drafted at the exact position), but he opted to sign with

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. The club sent him straight to

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * AAA (video game industry) - a category of high budget video games *'' TripleA'', an open source wargame Mu ...

and he hit .266/.360/.337 for the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

in 1952, very similar numbers to the other Louisville catcher, former Major Leaguer

Al Evans Alfred Hubert Evans (September 28, 1916 – April 6, 1979) was an American Major League Baseball catcher and a Minor League manager. Listed at tall and , Evans batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Kenly, North Carolina. Basically a c ...

. Back with the Colonels in 1953, Isbell was even better at .317/.386/.397 in 47 games while fielding .995; he outhit Pete Daley, the starter at catcher. In fact, he had the best average of any Louisville batter with 25 or more games player, ahead of

Charlie Maxwell Charles Richard Maxwell (April 8, 1927 – December 27, 2024), sometimes known as "Sunday Charlie", "The Sabbath Slugger", and "Ol' Paw Paw", was an American left-handed professional baseball left fielder. A native of Michigan, he played 14 sea ...

Harry Agganis Aristotle George "Harry" Agganis (April 20, 1929 – June 27, 1955), nicknamed "The Golden Greek", was an American college football player and professional baseball player. After passing up a potential professional football career, he played in ...

, and

Ken Aspromonte Kenneth Joseph Aspromonte (born September 22, 1931) is an American retired professional baseball player and manager. During his active career, Aspromonte spent all or parts of seven seasons (1957–63) in the Major Leagues, mostly as a second b ...

, among others. He also played three games for the

Fort Worth Panthers A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

, hitting .200. Isbell's baseball career ended despite those two productive seasons. He then signed with the

of the

(CFL) and played for five years as an All-Star

as well as a punter, quarterback and

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

Later life and honors

In 1977, Baylor began handing out the Larry Isbell MVP to its top baseball player. Isbell is a member of both the Baylor Hall of Fame and Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Isbell was living in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

and working as a car salesman in

Clifton, Texas Clifton is the largest city in Bosque County, Texas, United States. The city's population was 3,465 at the 2020 census. Clifton and the surrounding area was settled by Norwegian settlers in the mid 1800s. Today, this areas is in the National ...

when he died of a heart attack in 1978. In 2006, Baylor University hung banners around Floyd Casey Stadium honoring their best football players, including Larry Isbell.

References

External links

Texas Sports Hall of Fame profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Isbell, Larry 1930 births 1978 deaths American football quarterbacks Baseball catchers Canadian football defensive backs Baylor Bears baseball players Baylor Bears football players Fort Worth Cats players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Saskatchewan Roughriders players All-American college baseball players Players of American football from Houston Players of Canadian football from Houston Baseball players from Houston