Kyle Layman "Buddy" Cruze (May 24, 1933 – March 10, 2018) was an

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

player at the University of Tennessee. A native of

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, Cruze attended Knoxville High School and East High School. He attended

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

and thereafter transferred to the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the end position in 1952 for the

SMU Mustangs The SMU Mustangs are the sport, athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. SMU was founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor Bears, Baylor, Rice Owls, ...

and from 1954 to 1956 for the Tennessee Volunteers. He was selected by the Football Writers Association of America as a first-team player on its 1956 College Football All-America Team. After leaving the University of Tennessee he was 143rd pick overall and drafted by the Chicago Bears in the 1956 NFL draft. He later signed with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

in 1959. He was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. He died on March 10, 2018, at the age of 84.

References

1933 births 2018 deaths American football ends SMU Mustangs football players Tennessee Volunteers football players Players of American football from Knoxville, Tennessee {{Amfoot-bio-stub