Daniel Padgett Sandifer (March 1, 1927 – August 15, 1987) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was 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 ...

, halfback, receiver, and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

for six teams in 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 ...

(NFL) from 1948 to 1953. 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 ...

for the LSU Tigers. Because of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was one of the few college players to play in two College All-Star Games. He currently holds the

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 ...

team record for most

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s in a season (13) set in his rookie year, 1948. 13 interceptions in a season has been surpassed only once in NFL history by Dick "Night Train" Lane with 14 in 1952 playing for the

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

. Dan recorded 4 interceptions and 2 pick 6s in a single NFL game in 1948. Sandifer also had interceptions in six consecutive games during his rookie year in 1948.

Career

Sandifer was drafted by the

in the 1948 NFL draft out of Louisiana State. That same season he led the NFL with a then record 13 interceptions. Dick "Night Train" Lane's 14 interceptions in a season is the only time Sandifer's record was surpassed in NFL history. Sandifer's 13 interceptions remains the All-Time single season interception record for the Washington Redskins. He also is included in a group of NFL players who hold the record for most interceptions in a game, intercepting four passes against the

Boston Yanks The Boston Yanks were a National Football League team based in Boston, Massachusetts, that played from 1944 to 1948. The team played its home games at Fenway Park. Any games that conflicted with the Boston Red Sox baseball schedule in the Ameri ...

on Halloween 1948, returning two of them for touchdowns, a record that has never been broken. Sandifer also spent time on the offense during his career. He had 74 career carries for 247 yards and one touchdown, with his first two seasons with the Redskins and his 1951 season with the Eagles being where he had most of his use. He also had 30 receptions for 510 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also returned 72 punts for 767 yards (with a 10.7 yards per return). He finished in the top 10 of punt returns in the league three times, finishing 3rd in 1948 (20), 6th in 1949 (18), and 9th in 1950 (15). He also had 63 kickoffs for 1,367 yards (with a 21.7 yards per return) and one touchdown. He was first in kick return yards and kick returns in 1948 along with 1st in kick returns in 1949 and 2nd in kickoff returns. He also finished in the top 5 of all-purpose yards, finishing 3rd in 1948 with 1,340 and 4th the next year with 1,161. He had 23 career interceptions, with 13 being in his rookie season.

After football

Sandifer was an architect and a ranked amateur tennis player after his NFL days. He was one of the architects of the Louisiana State University Student Union Building in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He died of heart disease on August 15, 1987.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandifer, Dan 1927 births 1987 deaths American football defensive backs Green Bay Packers players LSU Tigers football players Players of American football from Shreveport, Louisiana Philadelphia Eagles players Washington Redskins players C. E. Byrd High School alumni San Francisco 49ers players