Art Strahan (born July 17, 1943) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

player who played

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

/ defensive tackle for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

, Atlanta Falcons,

Orlando Panthers The Orlando Panthers were a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. Founded in 1958 as the Franklin Miners, the team spent its first four years in the Eastern Football Conference, then three further years in the Atlantic Coa ...

, and

Alabama Hawks The Alabama Hawks were a professional American football team based in Huntsville, Alabama. They were members of various minor league football circuits in the 1960s: the Southern Football League (1963–64); the North American Football Leagu ...

Early life

Arthur Ray Strahan was born on July 17, 1943, in

Newton, Texas Newton is a city in and the county seat of Newton County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,633 at the 2020 census. History Both Newton County and its county seat, Newton, were named after John Newton, a supposed hero of the American R ...

. Strahan grew up in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Strahan attended Booker T. Washington High School in Newton. He was the co-captain of his high school football team.

College career

Strahan played as a

and

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

for four years at the

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,00 ...

. He made all-conference teams his last two seasons.

Professional career

Strahan played with the

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

in 1965. He then played for the

of the

Continental Football League The Continental Football League (COFL) was a professional American football minor league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It was established following the collapse of the original United Football League, and hoped to beco ...

in 1966 and 1967, their first two seasons in Orlando. The Panthers then sold Strahan's contract to the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

on March 13, 1968. Strahan was cut by the Cowboys and picked up off the waiver wire by the Atlanta Falcons on August 28, 1968. The Falcons released Strahan on September 3, 1968, and sent him to play for the Continental Football League's

. On November 16, 1968, Strahan was added back to the active roster of the Falcons. Strahan was cut by the Falcons in September 1969, and returned to the Orlando Panthers for the 1969 season. Strahan was signed by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...

on May 16, 1970. He was subsequently released on September 4, 1970. He played 2 games with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL in 1970.

Personal life

Strahan married Delores Jean and together they had two sons, Andre and Derrick, and one daughter. He is the uncle of

Michael Strahan Michael T. Strahan ( ; born November 21, 1971) is an American television personality, journalist, and former professional football player. He played his entire 15-year professional career as a defensive end for the New York Giants of the Natio ...

. Michael Strahan would follow his uncle in attending the Texas Southern University and becoming a defensive end in the NFL.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strahan, Art 1943 births Living people People from Newton, Texas Texas Southern Tigers football players American football defensive ends Houston Oilers players Dallas Cowboys players Los Angeles Rams players Atlanta Falcons players Players of American football from Houston American Football League players Continental Football League players African-American players of American football