Don Cooper "Dopey" Phelps (January 7, 1924 – June 11, 1982) 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 ...

halfback and

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 ...

who played for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

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) in the early 1950s. Phelps was born in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and played football at his local high school. After serving in the U.S. Army during

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 attended the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

and continued to play football under head coach

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

starting in 1946. He led the nation that year in kickoff and punt returns and set a Kentucky single-season return yardage record. Phelps was suspended for most of the 1948 season for breaking team rules, but he returned in 1949, when Kentucky played in 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 ...

. The Browns selected Phelps in the fifth round of the

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

. Cleveland won the

NFL championship Throughout its history, the National Football league (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national ...

in 1950, when Phelps served mainly as a punt and kickoff return man. The Browns reached the championship game in the following two seasons but lost to 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 ...

and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. Phelps retired before the 1953 season. He worked for the state of Kentucky after leaving football.

Early life and college

Phelps grew up in

Danville, Kentucky Danville is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat of Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micr ...

, and played football at Danville High School, where he got the nickname "Dopey" from a comic strip character. After a stint in the U.S. Army during

, he came home and enrolled at the

. Playing football under head coach

, he led the nation in kickoff and punt return yards as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

in 1946. Phelps was often in trouble with Bryant for team rule violations, and was suspended for most of 1948, his junior season. Kentucky finished the 1949 season with a 9–3 win–loss record and lost to

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

in the

Professional career

After graduating from Kentucky in 1949, Phelps was selected by the

of the

(NFL) in the sixth round of the 1950 draft. The Browns had recently joined the NFL after four years and four championships in the defunct

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a major professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many ...

. Led by

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 ...

Otto Graham Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was an American professional American football, football quarterback who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League ...

and fullback Marion Motley, the Browns finished the 1950 season with a 10–2 record and won the

over the

. Phelps was used primarily on kickoffs and punts, registering 499 total return yards and one punt return for a touchdown in 1950. He also had 198 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Cleveland reached the NFL championship game in each of the following two seasons, but lost to the Rams in 1951 and the

in 1952. Phelps's production declined in his second year to 65 rushing yards and 69 return yards. He had just five punt returns in 1952, his final season with the Browns.

Later life and death

After retiring from football in 1953, Phelps worked for the state of Kentucky. When he died in 1982, he still held Kentucky's single-season kickoff return record, with a 45-yard average in 1946.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phelps, Don Cleveland Browns players American football defensive backs American football halfbacks United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II 1924 births 1982 deaths People from Richmond, Kentucky Kentucky Wildcats football players