Donald Allen Samuel (February 16, 1924 – November 23, 2010) 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 who played at the

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 ...

and halfback positions.

Early life

Samuel was born in

Hood River, Oregon Hood River is a city in and the county seat of Hood River County, Oregon, United States. It is a port on the Columbia River, and is named for the nearby Hood River. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,313. It is the only city in O ...

, in 1924. He graduated from Hood River High School in 1942 and enrolled at

Oregon State College Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...

where he played college football for the

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I ...

in the fall of 1942. His college education was interrupted by service in the Navy 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 ...

. While in the Navy, he played for the

1943 Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks football team The 1943 Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks football team represented the United States Navy pre-flight school at the University of Iowa as an independent during the 1943 college football season. In the second season of intercollegiate football at the pre ...

that compiled a 9–1 record (the sole looss by one point to national champion Notre Dame) and was ranked No. 2 in the final AP poll. He earned his pilots' wings five months after the war ended. After the war, Samuel returned to Oregon State where he played for the

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

and

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

, and

1948 Oregon State Beavers football team The 1948 Oregon State Beavers football team represented Oregon State University, Oregon State College in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) during the 1948 college football season. In their fourteenth season under head coach Lon Stiner, the Bea ...

s. He was also captain of the 1948 team. He graduated from Oregon State in 1948 with a business degree.

Professional football

Samuel was selected by 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 ...

in the third round (25th overall pick) of the

1946 NFL draft The 1946 NFL draft was held on January 14, 1946, at the Commodore Hotel in New York City, New York. The selections were initially withheld from the public out of fear that the newly formed All-America Football Conference would sign away players ...

. He was traded by the Rams to the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

in exchange for Tommy Kalmanir. He played for the Steelers during the 1949 and 1950 seasons and appeared in a total of six NFL games. He sustained torn knee ligaments and underwent surgery in October 1949. He attempted a comeback but appeared in only one game during the 1950 season.

Family and later years

Samuel married Opal Boyle in 1948. He worked as an insurance agent for State Far for 32 year until his retirement in 1986. He died in 2010 at age 86 at the Encore Senior Village in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel, Don 1924 births 2010 deaths Pittsburgh Steelers players Oregon State Beavers football players Players of American football from Oregon