Herbert Vaughn Orvis (October 17, 1946 – August 14, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the Detroit Lions and the Baltimore Colts in a ten-year career that lasted from

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

to 1981 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). 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 Colorado Buffaloes.

Biography

Orvis went to Beecher High School. He joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

prior to his senior year at Beecher High School. Orvis was able to receive his high school diploma after serving overseas in the military. Orvis played college football at the University of Colorado. Orvis was a 1971 All-American and twice earned first-team All-Big Eight honors. He was named to the 1970s All-Big Eight Decade team. In 1971, CU finished ranked #3 in national polls. In 2014, Orvis was named to the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame. Orvis was drafted 16th overall in the first round of the 1972 NFL draft by the Lions, playing for five years with that team. The last four seasons of his playing career were with the Baltimore Colts which had acquired him from the Lions on May 1, 1978, for Freddie Scott and a fourth-round selection (107th overall) in the NFL draft which eventually became Homer Elias one day later. In 1971 he was an All-American. Two times he received first-team All-Big Eight honors. He was inducted into the Colorado University Athletic Hall of Fame on October 30, 2014, and was named to its All-Century team, celebrating the first 100 years of Buffaloes’ football. After football, he grew

citrus fruit ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Mandarin orange, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, ...

, owned an art gallery, and ran a construction business. He retired in 2013. Orvis was chosen to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on January 8, 2015. The ceremony was held December 6, 2016 in New York City. Orvis died on August 14, 2020, at the age of 73.

Biography

Notes

See also