Mel Anthony (born January 30, 1943) is a former

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 ...

running back. He played football for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1962 to 1964 and was named the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

of the 1965 Rose Bowl after setting a Rose Bowl record with an 84-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

run. He played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) in 1965 for the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

, in 1966 for the

Montreal Beavers The Montreal Beavers were a professional American football team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The franchise began as the Indianapolis Warriors of the United Football League (1961–1964), United Football League in 1961, where they played fo ...

of the

Continental Football League The Continental Football League (COFL) was a professional American football Minor league football (gridiron), minor league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It was established following the collapse of the original United Fo ...

(COFL), and in the Midwest Football League in 1967 for the Ypsilanti Vikings.

Early years

Anthony attended

Roger Bacon High School Roger Bacon High School is a Catholic high school in St. Bernard, Ohio, based in the Franciscan tradition. Early history This high school was dedicated in 1928, and was under the administration of and staffed by the Brothers and Priests of the ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. He played on offense at the fullback position and on defense as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for Roger Bacon's football team. In December 1960, he was selected by the

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

as a first-team All-Ohio defensive player at linebacker.

University of Michigan

In 1961, Anthony enrolled at the University of Michigan. He played at the fullback position for

Bump Elliott Chalmers William "Bump" Elliott (January 30, 1925 – December 7, 2019) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played halfback at Purdue University (1943–1944) and the University of Michigan (1946–194 ...

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the List of NCAA football teams by wins, most all-time wins in college football ...

team from 1962 to 1964. He was Michigan's lead rusher in 1963 and 1964. In two games against

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

in 1963 and 1964, Anthony scored six touchdowns (three each in 1963 and 1964) and rushed for 204 yards (83 in 1963 and 121 yards in 1964). He also rushed for 84 yards on 15 carries (5.6 yards per carry) against the

1963 Ohio State Buckeyes football team The 1963 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1963 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 5–3–1 record. Schedule Coaching staff * Woody Hayes - Head Coach - 13th year ...

. As a senior, Anthony was one of the leaders of the

1964 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1964 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1964 Big Ten Conference football season. In their sixth year under head coach Bump Elliott, the Wolverines compiled a 9–1 record, won the Big Ten Confe ...

that won the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

championship and defeated

Oregon State 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 ...

in the 1965 Rose Bowl. The 1965 Rose Bowl was Anthony's final game for Michigan, and Anthony was named the game's

after he rushed for a career-high 123 yards, scored three touchdowns, and averaged 9.5 yards per carry. He also set a

Rose Bowl Game The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, traditionally played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl (stadium), Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on ...

record with an 84-yard touchdown run, surpassing the prior record set by Iowa's Bob Jeter in the 1959 Rose Bowl. Following the game, the ''Long Beach Press Telegram'' wrote:

"Anthony, senior fullback who has been playing in the shadow of Michigan's touted Bob Timberlake, barreled his way into the record books with three touchdowns. His 84-yard dash (it actually was 84, the play starting on the 15 yard line) was the longest run in Rose Bowl history . . . while his 18 points tied the Bowl scoring record established 40 years ago by
Elmer Layden Elmer Francis Layden (May 4, 1903 – June 30, 1973) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football, Notre Dame Fi ...
... Anthony also recovered the punt that was blocked by tackle Bob Mielke in the third period, grabbing It on the Oregon State 15 — and later going in for the touchdown from a yard out. His other score came on a seven yard run. Although Elliott said he 'probably could name 22 players who could have been voted player of the game,' it was only natural that Anthony received the honor."

Professional football

Anthony was selected by 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 16th round (223rd overall selection) of the

1965 NFL draft The 1965 NFL draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 28, 1964. The first player selected was Tucker Frederickson, back from Auburn, by the New York Giants. The draft was marked by the failure of the St. Loui ...

. He signed with the Browns in early July 1965, but he was cut in late August, shortly before the start of the regular season. After being cut by the Browns, Anthony opted instead to play in the

. He was initially signed by the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

, but he was also cut by the Eskimos. He finally signed with the

and helped lead the team to the 1965 Grey Cup championship. Anthony was cut by the Tiger-Cats in August 1966 and signed with the

. He played for the Ypsilanti Vikings of the Midwest Football League in 1967.

References

External links

JustSportsStats.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Mel 1943 births Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Michigan Wolverines football players Players of Canadian football from Cincinnati Living people Continental Football League players Players of American football from Cincinnati Midwest Football League (1962–1978) players