Edward Joseph Price Jr. (September 2, 1925 – July 21, 1979) 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

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

of 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). After playing

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 ...

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

, he played six seasons with the Giants. Price was inducted to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

in 1982.

Biography

Price was born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and attended Warren Easton High School there, class of 1943. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during World War II, then attended

and played college football for the

Green Wave A green wave occurs when a series of traffic lights (usually three or more) are coordinated to allow continuous traffic flow over several Intersection (road), intersections in one main direction. Any vehicle traveling along with the green wave ( ...

. At Tulane, Price was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

in football, for the 1946–1949 seasons. He was named to All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) teams three times, 1947–1949, the latter two times being a consensus selection. He was named to

College Football All-America Team The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best college football players in the United States at their respective positions. The original use of the term '' All-America'' seems to have been to the 1889 College Footbal ...

s in 1948 and 1949 by some selectors. Price played in the

1950 Senior Bowl The 1950 Senior Bowl was a college football exhibition game featuring players from the 1949 college football season and prospects in the 1950 NFL draft. The inaugural edition of the Senior Bowl was played on January 7, 1950, at Gator Bowl Stadium ...

, the inaugural edition of that game, scoring a fourth-quarter touchdown for the South team, which defeated the North team, 22–13. He was selected in the second round of the 1950 NFL draft by the

. He had previously been selected by the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

of the

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 ...

(AAFC) in the 1949 AAFC Draft, but he did not play in that league. Price's NFL career lasted six seasons, 1950–1955, all with the Giants. He led the NFL in rushing in 1951, gaining 971 yards on 271 carries in a 12-week season. His 80.9 yards per game also led the league. He played a total of 63 regular-season NFL games (50 starts) while accruing 3,292 yards on 846 attempts, an average of 3.9 yards per carry. He had 20 rushing touchdowns and four receiving touchdowns. Following his professional football career, Price returned on New Orleans. He worked as a television

sports announcer In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present tense. There are two main types of sports broadcast ...

and also worked in sales for a brewing company. In September 1963, Price was announced as a candidate for

Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana The lieutenant governor of Louisiana (; ) is the second highest state office in Louisiana. The current lieutenant governor is Billy Nungesser, a Republican. The lieutenant governor is also the commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Cultur ...

, paired with gubernatorial candidate Louis J. Michot. Michot placed sixth in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. Price's son,

Eddie Price III Edward Joseph Price III (born October 1952) is an American former politician in Louisiana who served as the mayor of Mandeville, Louisiana, Mandeville in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, St. Tammany Parish. After first being elected in April 19 ...

, also played football for Tulane and was a two-year letterman, 1972–1973. The elder Price was inducted to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1975, and was a charter member of the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame when it was established in 1977. He died in July 1979 at his New Orleans home of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, aged 53. He was posthumously inducted to the

in 1982. Price is also an inductee of the Warren Easton Hall of Fame.

NFL career statistics

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Eddie 1925 births 1979 deaths Players of American football from New Orleans American football running backs Warren Easton High School alumni Tulane Green Wave football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees New York Giants players Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players United States Navy personnel of World War II