Daniel Lee "Deacon" Towler (March 6, 1928 – August 1, 2001) 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. He played 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) as a fullback 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 ...

from 1950 through 1955. He was the NFL leading rusher in 1952 and ranked among the top four rushers each year from 1951 to 1954. He graduated from

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian m ...

. The football statistics website ''Football Nation'' calls Towler "the greatest running back you don't know," and "a bright, shining star who lit up the NFL for an oh-so-brief but spectacular three-year period unlike any before or since."Terrible Towler: the greatest RB you don't know
/ref> " r a three-year period in the early 1950s," says ''Football Nation'', "Towler was the closest thing the NFL has ever produced to an unstoppable ball carrier." The

Professional Football Researchers Association The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional American football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by w ...

named Towler to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2006. After retiring from football, Towler was named

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of the Lincoln Avenue Methodist Church in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. He was also a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degree programs, 122 m ...

and president of the

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

Deacon Dan Towler Official website
/span> {{DEFAULTSORT:Towler, Dan 1928 births 2001 deaths African-American Methodist clergy American Methodist clergy American football fullbacks California State University, Los Angeles people Los Angeles Rams players University and college chaplains in the United States Washington & Jefferson Presidents football players Western Conference Pro Bowl players People from Donora, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Washington County, Pennsylvania School board members in California 20th-century American clergy 20th-century African-American sportsmen