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Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...
in the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...
Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...
(FBS) of college football. Purdue plays its home games at
Ross–Ade Stadium Ross–Ade Stadium is a stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana, on the campus of Purdue University. It is the home field of Purdue Boilermakers football. The stadium was dedicated on November 22, 1924, and named in honor of Purdue alumni George Ade ...
on the campus of Purdue University in
West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister ci ...
. The head coach of Purdue is Ryan Walters, the 37th head coach in Purdue history. The Boilermakers compete in the
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...
as a member of the West Division. Purdue had most recently been a part of the Leaders Division of the Big Ten, but moved to the West Division in 2014 due to conference expansion. With a 629–583–48 record at the conclusion of the 2021 season, Purdue has the 55th-most victories among NCAA FBS programs. Purdue was originally classified as a Major College school in the 1937 season until 1972. Purdue received Division I classification in 1973, becoming a
Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...
program from 1978 to 2006 and an FBS program from 2006 to the present. The Boilermakers have registered 64 winning seasons in their history, with 19 of those seasons resulting in eight victories or more, 10 seasons resulting in at least nine wins, and one season with ten victories or more. Of those successful campaigns, Purdue has produced five unbeaten seasons in its history, going 4–0 in 1891, 8–0 in 1892, 8–0 in 1929, 7–0–1 in 1932 and 9–0 in 1943. The Boilermakers have won a total of 12 conference championships in their history; eight
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...
titles; four
Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association was a college athletic conference that existed from 1889 until the early part of the 20th century. Its members were located in the state of Indiana. Members * Butler University * DePauw University * ...
titles and one Big Ten West Division title.


History


Early history (1887–1955)

The Purdue University football team traces its origin back to October 29, 1887, when its team fell to
Butler College Lee D. Butler College is one of the six residential colleges of Princeton University, founded in 1983. It houses about 500 freshmen and sophomores, 100 juniors and seniors, 10 Resident Graduate Students, a faculty member in residence, as well ...
by a score of 48–6 in
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...
. A group of students at
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...
formed the school's first football team in 1887.
Albert Berg Albert Berg (April 16, 1864 – March 5, 1945) was an American football player, coach, teacher, and an advocate, writer and editor on issues of concern to the deaf. Berg was rendered deaf as the result of a childhood bout of spinal meningitis. ...
was hired as the coach. Despite being deaf, Berg was reportedly "the only man in the territory with any knowledge of the game." Berg was 23 years old when he became Purdue's football "coacher." He was paid $1 for each lesson he gave to the newly organized football team and had only one week to prepare the team for its first game. The 1887 Purdue team played its only game on October 29, 1887, against the
Butler College Lee D. Butler College is one of the six residential colleges of Princeton University, founded in 1983. It houses about 500 freshmen and sophomores, 100 juniors and seniors, 10 Resident Graduate Students, a faculty member in residence, as well ...
team at Athletic Park in Indianapolis. Butler soundly defeated Berg's squad by a score of 48–6. After the loss to Butler, Purdue did not field a football team again until 1889. In 1890,
Clinton L. Hare Clinton Larue Hare (November 7, 1864 – June 4, 1909) was a manager, organizer, and coach of American football, and a lawyer and grocer. He served as the head football coach at Butler University for three seasons (1887, 1889, and 1890), at Purdue ...
became the third head football coach at Purdue. He coached the team that season to a record of 3–3. Purdue won each of its two home games in convincing fashion, shutting out
Wabash Wabash may refer to: Political entities * Wabash Confederacy, or Wabash Indians, a loose confederacy of 18th century Native Americans Places in the United States * Wabash River, in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois * Wabash Valley, in Illinois and India ...
, 54–0, on October 24 and
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
, 62–0, on November 22. They also shut out
DePauw Pauw (Dutch for "peacock"), de Pauw or DePauw are variants of a Dutch or Flemish surname and may refer to: People ;Pauw *Adriaan Pauw (1585–1653), Dutch Grand Pensionary of Holland *Jacques Pauw, South African investigative journalist *Michiel Pa ...
in
Greencastle, Indiana Greencastle is a city in Greencastle Township, Putnam County, Indiana, United States, and the county seat of Putnam County. It was founded in 1821 by Ephraim Dukes on a land grant. He named the settlement for his hometown of Greencastle, Pennsyl ...
, 32–0. Purdue suffered its worst loss of the season on November 1 in
Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
, falling to
Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
by a score of 34–6. Hare's squad also dropped their season opener in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
on October 18 to the Chicago University Football Club, 10–6, and their season finale on November 27 against Hare's former team, Butler, by a score of 12–10. With their wins over DePauw and Wabash and their loss to Butler, Purdue tallied a 2–1 mark against their opponents from within the state of Indiana. Hare's team finished second place in the
Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association was a college athletic conference that existed from 1889 until the early part of the 20th century. Its members were located in the state of Indiana. Members * Butler University * DePauw University * ...
to Butler, who beat all three of their in-state foes and was awarded the state championship. In 1891,
Knowlton Ames Knowlton Lyman "Snake" Ames (May 27, 1868 – December 23, 1931) was an American football player and coach. He played for Princeton University from 1886 to 1889, and the Chicago Athletic Association, in 1892. Playing for the Princeton Tigers, ...
became the head coach for Purdue, where he led the Boilermakers to a 12–0 record over two years. In the fall of 1893,
D. M. Balliet David Milton "Pete" Balliet (August 25, 1866 – August 6, 1960) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Auburn University for one game in February 1893, at Purdue University from 1893 to 1895 and again ...
became the head football coach at Purdue. Balliet led the team to a 5–2–1 record in 1893 and 9–1 in 1894. During the 1894 season, Balliet's Purdue squad defeated
Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...
's
Chicago Maroons The Chicago Maroons are the intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Chicago. They are named after the color maroon. Team colors are maroon and gray, and the Phoenix is their mascot. They now compete in the NCAA Division III, mostly as ...
and outscored opponents by a collective score of 177–42. His 1895 squad finished with a record of 4–3. In 1897, Balliet was reported to have given up a successful law practice to join the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska. Balliet was re-hired as the head coach at Purdue in September 1901. He led the 1901 Purdue team to a 4–4–1 record but finished the season with consecutive losses to
Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
, and Northwestern. At the end of the 1901 season, Purdue opted not to renew his services. In March 1902, the ''Indianapolis News'' reported, "He is known to be a good coach, but he turned out a loser last year and Purdue wants a change." In four seasons as Purdue's head coach, Balliet compiled a record of 22–10–2. On October 31, 1903, 14 members of the 1903 squad were killed in
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...
when the train they were riding collided with a coal train. The event became known as the Purdue Wreck. Purdue bounced around with many different head coaches until 1921, with most having little to no success coaching at Purdue. However, Purdue did hire Andy Smith (1913–15) and
William Henry Dietz William Henry "Lone Star" Dietz (August 17, 1884 – July 20, 1964) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Washington State University (1915–1917), Purdue University (1921), Louisiana Tech University ( ...
(1921), both of which would go on to become College Football Hall of Fame members. For the 1922 season, Purdue hired
Missouri Tigers football The Missouri Tigers football program represents the University of Missouri (often referred to as Mizzou) in college football and competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Missouri's ...
coach, James Phelan. Phelan lead the 1929 Boilermakers to a perfect 8–0 record and what is to date their only ever outright Big Ten Title. In 1925,
Noble Kizer Noble Earl "Nobe" Kizer Sr. (March 11, 1900 – June 13, 1940) was an American football and basketball player, football coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Purdue University from 1930 to 1936. During ...
became an assistant coach at Purdue under Phelan and inherited the head coaching position upon Phelan's departure for the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...
.
Allen Elward Allen Henry "Mal" Elward (June 23, 1892 – December 31, 1982) was an American football player, coach of football and basketball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Grinnell College from 1922 to 1923, at J ...
became head coach after serving as an assistant at Purdue from 1927 to 1936. He compiled a 16–18–6 record at Purdue.
Elmer Burnham Elmer Harold Burnham (September 8, 1894 – March 9, 1977) was an American football coach and all-around athlete, known particularly for his basketball skills both in college and in amateur YMCA play in Indiana. He was the head football coach at P ...
served as Purdue's freshman football coach for seven years before assuming the role as varsity head coach in 1942. Burnham's 1943 squad went 9–0 and shared the
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...
title with
Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
. The 1943 squad was the only undefeated team playing a full schedule in major college football, but finished third in the country per the AP Poll. This would seemingly be sufficient grounds for Purdue to claim a 1943 National Championship as the NCAA itself did not recognize champions in the era. However, Purdue has never pursued this claim.
Cecil Isbell Cecil Frank Isbell (July 11, 1915 – June 23, 1985) was an American football quarterback and coach. He played five years in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers, leading them to the NFL Championship in 1939. He retir ...
started out at Purdue as an assistant coach and took over as head coach in 1944. He coached there for three years with a 14–14–1 record. He was the first Purdue alumnus to become the head football coach. During
Stu Holcomb Stuart K. Holcomb (September 11, 1910 – January 11, 1977) was an American football and basketball coach best known for serving as head football coach for Miami University (1942–1943) and Purdue University (1947–1955). Before coaching, Holcom ...
's tenure as Boilermakers head coach he compiled a record of 35–42–4. His best year was 1952 when he led the Boilermakers to a
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...
co-championship and a No. 18 ranking in the final poll. Despite having only a 4–3–1 overall record, Holcomb's team played well in conference with a 4–1–1 record. Holcomb's Purdue teams are, perhaps, best remembered for ending Notre Dame's 39-game unbeaten streak when his Boilermakers defeated the Irish, 28–14, in the second game of the 1950 season. Holcomb was known for developing solid quarterbacks including Bob DeMoss,
Dale Samuels Dale Allen Samuels (born August 2, 1931) is a former American football quarterback who played one season with the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cardinals in the third round of the 1953 NFL Draft. He ...
and
Len Dawson Leonard Ray Dawson (June 20, 1935 – August 24, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs franchise. Af ...
. These players helped grow a strong tradition at Purdue of great quarterback play. On December 12, 1955, after his nine seasons at Purdue, Holcomb left Purdue to accept the athletic director position at the
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...
. Stu Holcomb oversaw the 1947 integration of Purdue's athletic teams after pressure from student led protests. It is hard to find any black athletes in the records before 1950 – where Herman Murray is first shown with the squad. Alongside Herman Murray, One of the most notable early black athletes is Lamar Lundy. Lundy was a two sport athlete who played center for the Purdue basketball team and defensive end for the football team. Lundy was extraordinary and achieved great deal of success during and after his collegiate years. He received the 1956 Purdue MVP award not even 10 years after athletic integration and received offers to play professional basketball and football after graduation. He ultimately chose football and played for the Los Angeles Rams from 1957 to 1969. Both Murray and Lundy were pioneers who paved the way for many young gentlemen.


Jack Mollenkopf era (1956–1969)

On January 2, 1967,
Jack Mollenkopf Kenneth Webster "Jack" Mollenkopf (November 24, 1903 – December 4, 1975) was the head football coach at Purdue University from 1956 until 1969. Mollenkopf was also an assistant coach at Purdue from 1947 to 1955 under Stu Holcomb. Mollenkopf w ...
coached the school's first appearance in the Rose Bowl, leading Purdue to a 14–13 victory over
USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...
. Against Purdue's in-state rivals, Mollenkopf tallied an 11–2–1 record versus
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
and a 10–4 mark against
Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...
. From 1966 to 1969, a Purdue player finished in the top three in balloting for the Heisman Trophy:
quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Bob Griese Robert Allen Griese (pronounced ; born February 3, 1945) is a former American football quarterback who earned All-American honors with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the American Football League's Miami Dolphins. Gr ...
was second in 1966, halfback
Leroy Keyes Marvin Leroy Keyes (February 18, 1947 – April 15, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back and safety for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City ...
placed third in 1967 and second in 1968, and quarterback
Mike Phipps Michael Elston Phipps (born January 19, 1947) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. Phipps played college footb ...
finished as runner-up in 1969. Mollenkopf's inaugural season in 1956 was the only losing campaign of his tenure as head coach at Purdue. Mollenkopf is Purdue's all-time leader in
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...
wins (58) and conference winning percentage (.637). His 84 wins at Purdue placed him first on the school's all-time wins list until
Joe Tiller Joseph Henry Tiller (December 7, 1942 – September 30, 2017) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1991 to 1996 and Purdue University from 1997 to 2008, with a career record of know ...
passed him in 2008, and he ranks fourth in overall winning percentage (.670). Mollenkopf's Boilermakers were nationally ranked for 80 weeks, the most under any Purdue head coach, and captured the No. 1 spot the first five weeks of the 1968 season.


Bob DeMoss era (1970–1972)

Former Purdue player and assistant coach Bob DeMoss was promoted to head coach in 1970. DeMoss inherited a Purdue squad who was loaded at the running back position with Stan Brown, and
Otis Armstrong Otis D. Armstrong (November 15, 1950 – October 13, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the first round with the ninth overall pick in the 1973 NFL ...
, but the team struggled to find consistency out of its quarterback position. DeMoss resigned following the 1972 season, citing his desire to be with his family more as his reason for stepping down. DeMoss compiled a career college football record of 13–18.


Alex Agase era (1973–1976)

After nine seasons as the Northwestern coach,
Alex Agase Alexander Arrasi Agase (March 27, 1922 – May 3, 2007) was an American football guard and linebacker who was named an All-American three times in college and played on three Cleveland Browns championship teams before becoming head football coa ...
accepted an offer at the end of 1972 to become head football coach at Purdue, one of the two schools for which he played. Taking the job was "not an easy decision to make", he said at the time, because he was happy at Northwestern. Agase coached at Purdue through the 1976 season, but his team never posted a winning record in his years there. He was fired in early 1977 and took a job as
athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and university, universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of c ...
at
Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United St ...
in
Ypsilanti, Michigan Ypsilanti (), commonly shortened to Ypsi, is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 20,648. The city is bounded to the north by Superior Township and on the west, south, an ...
. He stayed in that job until 1982, when he unexpectedly resigned citing "personal reasons".


Jim Young era (1977–1981)

In December 1976, Purdue hired 41-year-old
Jim Young James Norman Young (born June 6, 1943) is a former professional American football and Canadian football player. Young played running back and wide receiver for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings for two seasons (1965–66), and the CFL's BC Lions for ...
away from
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...
. When Young arrived at Purdue, he named true freshman,
Mark Herrmann Mark Donald Herrmann (born January 8, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Herrmann played college football for th ...
as the team's starting quarterback, and the freshman lived up to expectations, throwing for 2,041 yards through the team's first eight games. Herrmann would break the NCAA record for passing yards (2,453) and passing touchdowns (18) for freshman. In 1978, Young would lead Purdue to a 9–2–1 record, and a victory over
Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part o ...
in the
1978 Peach Bowl The 1978 Peach Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Background Purdue finished 2nd in the Big Ten Conference, in their first bowl game since 1967. Georgia Tech was ...
. Young was named the Big Ten's Coach of the Year, the first Boilermaker head coach to ever win the award. Throughout his career, Herrmann would break the Big Ten's all-time career passing yards (6,734) and passing touchdowns (48) before his senior season. After a disappointing 1981 season, Young resigned from his position as head coach at Purdue, citing his desire to concentrate on athletic administration.


Leon Burtnett era (1982–1986)

In November 1981, defensive coordinator
Leon Burtnett James Leon Burtnett (May 30, 1943 – June 1, 2021) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Purdue University from 1982 to 1986, compiling a record of 21–34–1. He was a sales professional at Central Chevrolet ...
was promoted as Purdue's 30th head football coach. During the 1984 campaign, Burtnett's team posted its best season, which the highlight of the year was beating No. 2 Ohio State 28–23. The 1984 squad's 7–4 record earned Burtnett the Big Ten's Coach of the Year Award. His success that year earned him a contract extension through 1990. Burtnett's teams didn't improve after 1984, and after a 3–8 season in 1986, Burtnett resigned as head coach.


Fred Akers era (1987–1990)

After Burtnett's dismissal, Purdue had verbally agreed to hire
Ron Meyer Ronald Shaw Meyer (February 17, 1941 – December 5, 2017) was an American college and professional football coach. He is best known for having been the head coach of Southern Methodist University, the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts ...
as their next head coach. Prior to finalizing a deal with Purdue, the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...
called and offered Meyer a contract. Meyer accepted the Colts offer. After they were left in the cold by Meyer, Purdue hired former
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
head coach
Fred Akers Fred Akers (March 17, 1938 – December 7, 2020) was an American college football player and coach. He served as head football coach at the University of Wyoming (1975–1976), the University of Texas at Austin (1977–1986), and Purdue Universit ...
. The Akers hiring caused starting quarterback
Jeff George Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes ...
to transfer due to the Akers running style offense as opposed to Burtnett's passing offense. Akers coached his teams to only 12 wins in four years.


Jim Colletto era (1991–1996)

Jim Colletto Jim Colletto (born October 4, 1944) is a former American football player and coach. He attended Monterey High School (1958–1962) where he was an all conference baseball and football player and starter on the varsity basketball team. At UCLA Col ...
was named Purdue's head coach in December 1990, accepting the position while he was serving the offensive coordinator for Ohio State. Colletto came to Purdue with the goal of recruiting kids from the
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
area, and keeping Purdue's quarterback tradition trending onward. During his introduction press conference, he stated that at practice field, he planned to install a small cemetery in which he would place a tombstone for every school Purdue upset or beat on the road. Colletto also provided up change on offense, as he brought his
I formation The I formation is one of the most common offensive formations in American football. The I formation draws its name from the vertical (as viewed from the opposing endzone) alignment of quarterback, fullback, and running back, particularly when ...
with him from Ohio State. During his first season as head coach, the Boilermakers improved winning two more games than they had the year before, and freshman tailback Corey Rogers was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. In 1992, Colletto lost Rogers to academic ineligibility, and was forced to use a new running back. The Rogers suspension opened the door for what would become Purdue's all-time leading rusher,
Mike Alstott Michael Joseph Alstott (born December 21, 1973), is a former American football fullback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nicknamed "A-Train", he played college football at Purdue a ...
. In 1994, the Boilermakers got out to a 4–1–1 start, and were starting to gain national attention. With Rogers and Alstott leading the way out of the Purdue backfield, Purdue racked up 1,206 and 17 rushing touchdowns in 6 games. However Purdue stumbled down the stretch, finishing the season 0–4–1. Colletto resigned in November 1996.


Joe Tiller era (1997–2008)

Joe Tiller Joseph Henry Tiller (December 7, 1942 – September 30, 2017) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1991 to 1996 and Purdue University from 1997 to 2008, with a career record of know ...
was hired by Purdue in
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
. Tiller inherited a program that had only had two winning seasons in the previous 18 years. However, the Boilermakers made an immediate splash in the second game of his rookie season with a nationally televised upset of
Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...
. Tiller would go on to lead the Boilermakers to ten bowl berths in 12 years, most notably the
2001 Rose Bowl The 2001 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2001. It was the 87th Rose Bowl Game, and matched the champions of the Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences. The University of Washington Huskies defeated the Purdue University ...
. Prior to Tiller's arrival, Purdue had played in only five bowl games, most recently the
1984 Peach Bowl The 1984 Peach Bowl featured the Purdue Boilermakers of the Big Ten against the Virginia Cavaliers of the ACC. Virginia defeated Purdue 27–24 in the first bowl game in school history. Purdue jumped out to a 24–14 halftime lead, but Virginia ...
. On September 20, 2008, in a game versus
Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan corr ...
, Tiller won his 85th game at Purdue to become the winningest coach in school history, topping the previous mark set by
Jack Mollenkopf Kenneth Webster "Jack" Mollenkopf (November 24, 1903 – December 4, 1975) was the head football coach at Purdue University from 1956 until 1969. Mollenkopf was also an assistant coach at Purdue from 1947 to 1955 under Stu Holcomb. Mollenkopf w ...
(1956–1969). Tiller's "
basketball on grass :''"Spread offense" may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball.'' The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the defense horizonta ...
" offense was well renowned for its ability to score and score effectively, befuddling opposing defenses. This was especially the case when
Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...
ran the team from 1997 to 2000. Tiller's Purdue squads were shut out only once, by
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High ...
, in a 12–0 defeat at
Ross–Ade Stadium Ross–Ade Stadium is a stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana, on the campus of Purdue University. It is the home field of Purdue Boilermakers football. The stadium was dedicated on November 22, 1924, and named in honor of Purdue alumni George Ade ...
on October 28, 2006. Tiller was the first coach to use the
spread offense :''"Spread offense" may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball.'' The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the defense horizonta ...
in the
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...
, although many others have since brought their own version of the spread, including
Jim Tressel James Patrick Tressel (born December 5, 1952) is an American college football coach and university administrator who is currently the president of Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio. Before becoming an administrator, Tressel was th ...
at
Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
, Randy Walker at Northwestern,
Rich Rodriguez Richard Alan Rodriguez (; born May 24, 1963), also known as Rich Rod, is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Jacksonville State University. Rodriguez previously was the head football coach at Salem Uni ...
at
Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
, and
Ron Zook Ronald Andrew Zook (; born April 28, 1954) is an American football coach and former player who currently serves as the Defensive Coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL. He was the head football coach at the University of Florida fro ...
at
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
. Under Tiller and his spread offense, Purdue annually had one of the top offenses in the Big Ten.


Danny Hope era (2009–2012)

Beginning on approximately January 7, 2008, several media outlets reported that
Danny Hope Charles Daniel Hope (born January 7, 1959) is an American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Eastern Kentucky University from 2003 to 2007, and Purdue University from 2009 to 2012, compiling a career colle ...
had been offered and accepted the head coaching position at Purdue where it was expected that he would replace coach Joe Tiller as part of a succession plan. During his previous stay at Purdue, Hope was the offensive line coach for Tiller. He is credited with building the
offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...
that protected
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...
quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...
and produced several NFL offensive linemen, including
All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...
Matt Light Matthew Charles Light (born June 23, 1978) is a former American football offensive tackle who spent his entire 11-year career playing for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Purdue Un ...
. In his first game as head coach at Purdue in 2009, the Boilermakers won, 52–31, over
Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, O ...
. Purdue lost their next five games before upsetting No. 7
Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
, 26–18, at
home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it ...
on October 17. Later during the 2009 season, the Boilermakers won at
Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
for the first time since 1966 with a 38–36 come-from-behind win at The Big House on November 7. It was only the third time in program history that Purdue defeated Ohio State and Michigan in the same season. Hope's teams would miss out on bowl games in both the 2009 and 2010 seasons. However, the 2011 team was able record a 6–6 overall record and a 4–4 conference record, including a second win against Ohio State in 3 years. The team would end up going to the
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (known as the Motor City Bowl until 2009) was a post-season college football bowl game that was played annually from 1997 to 2013. The first five games (1997–2001) were played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, ...
, where they defeated
Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peni ...
37–32 to achieve Hope's first winning season at Purdue. Following the season, Burke extended Hope with a two-year contract extension. The 2012 season was met with high expectations from fans, alumni, and Hope himself, who proclaimed that it would be his best team with many starters returning. Moreover, with both Ohio State and Penn State serving bowl bans that year, the Boilermakers had a strong opportunity to win the Leaders division title. However, after a 3–1 non-conference start, the team would then open Big Ten play with five straight losses. Although the Boilers would eventually win their final three games, including victories over archrivals IU and
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
, and become bowl-eligible for the second straight year, athletic director Morgan Burke announced on November 25, 2012, that Hope would be fired. Wide receivers coach Patrick Higgins was named interim coach for the bowl game.


Darrell Hazell era (2013–2016)

On December 5, 2012, it was announced that
Darrell Hazell Darrell Ivan Hazell (born April 14, 1964) is a former American football college and National Football League (NFL) coach. Hazell has been a head coach twice, with Kent State from 2011 to 2012, and Purdue from 2013 to 2016. A native of Cinnamins ...
would leave the
Kent State Golden Flashes The Kent State Golden Flashes are the athletic teams that represent Kent State University. The university fields 19 varsity athletic teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level with football competing in ...
to become the head coach of the Boilermakers. The Boilermakers started the season with a 42–7 loss to the
Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. Though they will move to the Big 12 Conference (XII) the teams are currently a part of the American Athletic Conference (The American), which from 1979 ...
at
Nippert Stadium James Gamble Nippert Memorial Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Primarily used for American football, it is the home field of the Cincinnati Bearcats football team. The stadium has ...
. The following week against
Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...
, Hazell won his first game at Purdue 20–14. After the Boilermakers started 1–2, and Rob Henry continuing to struggle in the team's 4th game,
Danny Etling Daniel Patrick Etling (born July 22, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Purdue and LSU, and was drafted by the New England Patriots in the seve ...
was thrust into a game with Purdue trailing 27–10 to
Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by t ...
. Etling finished the game with 241 yards passing while throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions. During the ensuing week, Etling was named the starter for the Boilermakers. With Etling at quarterback, Hazell showed he was playing the 2013 season to gain experience for younger players. The Boilermakers finished the 2013 season 1–11, one of the worst seasons in Purdue history. The Boilermakers went 3–9 in 2014, 2–10 in 2015, and were 3–3 in 2016 when on October 16, 2016, Hazell was fired with a record of 9–33 with the Boilermakers, including 3–24 in conference play. He was replaced on an interim basis by wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator
Gerad Parker Gerad Michael Parker (born January 4, 1981) is an American football coach and former wide receiver. He is the tight ends coach at Notre Dame. He was previously the offensive coordinator at West Virginia University. Parker played college footba ...
, who went 0–6 to end the season 3–9.


Jeff Brohm era (2017–2022)

On December 5, 2016, Purdue hired
Jeff Brohm Jeffrey Scott Brohm (born April 24, 1971) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current head football coach of the Louisville Cardinals. Brohm played college football at the University of Louisville for coach Howard S ...
to become head coach of the football program. Brohm came from
Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogn ...
, where he was 30–10 in 3 seasons as the team's head coach. Brohm brought instant success to Purdue, success that the program had not experienced since head coach Danny Hope. In their game against
Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
, Purdue sold out
Ross Ade Stadium Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sout ...
for the first time since 2008 in
Joe Tiller Joseph Henry Tiller (December 7, 1942 – September 30, 2017) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1991 to 1996 and Purdue University from 1997 to 2008, with a career record of know ...
's final game against Indiana. Brohm finished his first regular season with a 6–6 record, including the first victory over rival Indiana since 2012. Brohm also was able to earn a bowl berth for Purdue, their first since the 2012 season, where Purdue defeated Arizona in the Foster Farms Bowl, 38–35. In Brohm's second season, Purdue enjoyed perhaps even higher success than their first season, even though the team started the year 0–3. Purdue would eventually finish 6–7, with a second consecutive bowl berth. Purdue defeated three ranked teams in 2018: No. 23 Boston College (30–13), No. 2 Ohio State (49–20), and No. 16 Iowa (38–36). Purdue suffered a lopsided 63–14 loss to Auburn in the
Music City Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
Bowl. In Brohm's third season, Purdue finished 4–8 and failed to achieve bowl eligibility. Purdue's season ended with a 44–41 loss in two overtimes to Indiana in the Old Oaken Bucket game. In Brohm’s fifth season as head coach, Purdue finished the regular season with a record of 8–4, including two top 5 wins in number 2 Iowa (24–7) and number 5 (number 3 in CFP Ranking) Michigan State (40–29). Earning a berth back to the
Music City Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
Bowl, the Boilermakers beat Tennessee in overtime, 48–45, and ended the year with a 9–4 record. His 6th season lead to the team's first Big Ten West Champions, but they were defeated by #2
Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
at the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis. Purdue finished the regular season 8–4, with 2021–2022 as the first back-to-back 8–4 seasons or better since
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
. Following the Big Ten Championship Game, Brohm would leave Purdue to become the head coach at his alma mater,
Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...
. Offensive Coordinator
Brian Brohm Brian Joseph Brohm (born September 23, 1985) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is currently the interim head coach, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for Purdue University. He played college football at Louisv ...
took over as the interim head coach for the Citrus Bowl.


Ryan Walters era (2022–)

On December 13, 2022, Purdue announced that it was hiring Ryan Walters, the defensive coordinator at
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
, to replace Brohm.


Conference affiliations

* Independent (1887–1890) *
Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association was a college athletic conference that existed from 1889 until the early part of the 20th century. Its members were located in the state of Indiana. Members * Butler University * DePauw University * ...
(1891–1894) * Independent (1895) *
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...
(1896–present)


Championships


National championships

Purdue's 1931 team was retroactively selected
national champion National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
by Parke Davis, an NCAA-designated major selector. As a split selection, Davis also named
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
as national champion. However, the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...
only lists
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...
as the national champion for 1931, and does not credit Purdue with any national championships in football.


Conference championships

Purdue has won 12 conference championships, five outright and seven shared. Of those, four are
Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association was a college athletic conference that existed from 1889 until the early part of the 20th century. Its members were located in the state of Indiana. Members * Butler University * DePauw University * ...
titles and eight are
Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...
titles. As members of the Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the Big Ten, the Boilermakers have amassed a record of 154–64–3 (.703 winning percentage) in conference play. † Co-champions


Division championships

Purdue has won one division title.


Bowl games

Purdue has participated in 20
bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...
s throughout its history, compiling an 11–9 record. Purdue did not appear frequently in post-season play from
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establ ...
to
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...
, but they played well, winning 4 of 5 bowl games including four consecutive wins between 1967 and
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Syst ...
. When Tiller arrived in 1997, Purdue went to eight consecutive bowl games, but only won three of the eight bowl games. Tiller would lead the Boilermakers to a total of 10 bowl games in his 12 seasons as head coach. Of those 20 bowl appearances, the Boilermakers have participated in 1 "major" Division I-A/FBS bowl games, which was part of the
BCS Bowl Games The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, includi ...
. The Boilermakers have never played in a National Championship Game.


Head coaches

There have been 39 head coaches with 40 tenures since the inaugural team in 1887, with Ryan Walters being the current head coach.


Facilities


Stuart Field (1892–1924)

Stuart Field Stuart Field was a stadium at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States. It was the home field of the Purdue Boilermakers football team from 1892 until 1924 when Ross–Ade Stadium opened. Purdue's baseball team continued to pl ...
was dedicated on April 16, 1892, and named for Charles B. and William V. Stuart, two brothers who served on the university's board of trustees. Originally a seven-acre (2.8 ha) field with 800 seats, by the 1910s it was expanded to twice that area and a
seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile th ...
of five thousand.


Ross–Ade Stadium (1924–present)

The Boilermakers have called
Ross–Ade Stadium Ross–Ade Stadium is a stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana, on the campus of Purdue University. It is the home field of Purdue Boilermakers football. The stadium was dedicated on November 22, 1924, and named in honor of Purdue alumni George Ade ...
home since 1924. It is named for
David E. Ross David Edward Ross (August 25, 1871 – June 28, 1943)Kelly, Fred C. David Ross, Modern Pioneer: A Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946. Print. was a Purdue University graduate who helped advance the university through his generous donations an ...
and
George Ade George Ade (February 9, 1866 – May 16, 1944) was an American writer, syndicated newspaper columnist, and playwright who gained national notoriety at the turn of the 20th century with his "Stories of the Streets and of the Town", a column that ...
, the principal benefactors. Ross–Ade Stadium opened on November 22, 1924, with a
seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile th ...
of 13,500 and standing room for an additional 5,000 people. A series of additions and renovations pushed the
seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile th ...
to almost 68,000 (70,000 with standing room). In 2001
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...
began a $70 million renovation, which led to a reduced
seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile th ...
of 62,500. The current capacity is 57,236, with standing room for over 60,000.


Mollenkopf Athletic Center

An indoor training facility used primarily for the football team. It includes a full practice football field, extensive weight room, and offices for the football program. Also housed in Mollenkopf is the Purdue Football Hall of Glory.


Rivalries

Purdue's major rival has always been
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...
, with whom they play for the
Old Oaken Bucket The Old Oaken Bucket is a traveling trophy awarded in American college football as part of the rivalry between the Indiana Hoosiers football team of Indiana University and Purdue Boilermakers football team of Purdue University. It was first ...
, but during the Joe Tiller era the rivalry with
Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...
in football has become the most heated and most competitive with Joe Tiller led teams going 5–7 vs. Notre Dame. Danny Hope picked up the Shillelagh Trophy with a 24–21 loss in his first season as head coach. In addition, Purdue has a long-standing rivalry with
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
, with whom they play for the
Purdue Cannon Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...
trophy. Due to having an odd number of teams from 1993 to 2010, the Big Ten utilized a rotating system of conference games. Every school was designated two official rivals, whom they played every year. The official rivals for Purdue were
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
and Northwestern. However, after the
expansion Expansion may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''L'Expansion'', a French monthly business magazine * ''Expansion'' (album), by American jazz pianist Dave Burrell, released in 2004 * ''Expansions'' (McCoy Tyner album), 1970 * ''Expansio ...
of the Big Ten to 12 schools, Purdue and Northwestern were placed into separate conference divisions and no longer played each other on an annual basis. Beginning in 2011, Purdue's new designated cross-division rival will be
Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
. This matchup has been mocked by fans of both teams. The other cross-divisional rivalries set up by the Big Ten had some history or a trophy behind the pairing, but Purdue and Iowa were left over. The respective SB Nation blogs o
Hammer & Rails
an
Black Heart Gold Pants
have since celebrated this rivalry between the two schools with the tongue-in-cheek reference to each other as "Our Most Hated Rivals" or simple "OMHR"


Illinois

Purdue leads the series 47–45–6 through the 2022 season.


Indiana

Purdue leads the series with
Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Ath ...
76–42–6 through the 2022 season.


Notre Dame

Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...
leads the series 59–26–2 through the 2022 season.


Cradle of Quarterbacks

Purdue's football program has long been known for its prolific passing quarterbacks, ranging from players who have set School, Big Ten & NCAA records, to being named All-Americans and finalist for national awards, to being elected into the College Football and Pro Football Hall of Fames. This great tradition has led to the school being nicknamed the "Cradle of Quarterbacks". When Drew Brees led the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
to a victory in
Super Bowl XLIV Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) cham ...
, Purdue became just the second college in history to produce 3 different Super Bowl winning quarterbacks. The first Purdue quarterback to win an NFL title was
Cecil Isbell Cecil Frank Isbell (July 11, 1915 – June 23, 1985) was an American football quarterback and coach. He played five years in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers, leading them to the NFL Championship in 1939. He retir ...
who led the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...
to the 1939 NFL title. † Quarterbacks to start and win a Super Bowl


Culture


Marching band

The
Purdue All-American Marching Band The Purdue "All-American" Marching Band (or AAMB) is the marching band of Purdue University and the main source of auxiliary entertainment for Purdue Boilermakers football games. The AAMB is also the official band of the Indianapolis 500 race, hav ...
is the
marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ...
of
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...
. The Purdue "All-American" Marching Band (AAMB) is the primary source of auxiliary entertainment for Purdue University football games. AAMB does many service performances for high schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools, and has been the host band of the
Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of India ...
race every year the race has been held since 1927. The band has grown from an original 5 members to 373 members, making it one of the largest marching bands in the world. The two most distinctive features of the AAMB are the World's Largest Drum and solo baton twirler the Purdue Golden Girl. In 1886 the Purdue Student Army Training Corps produced 5 men who provided music for the Army trainees to listen to during their morning conditioning runs. While operating without a director until 1904, the band had started playing at Purdue football games and had grown to over 50 members. In 1904, Paul Spotts Emrick, joined the band. His experience as a conductor resulted in his election as band president and director the next year. During his senior year at Purdue, the marching band, under Emrick, became the first band to break ranks and form a letter on the field—the famous Block "P". Emrick stayed on as director after his graduation in 1908. In 1921, Emrick commissioned Leedy to construct the World's Largest Drum, and it has been a part of the marching band ever since. In 1935, during a Purdue football game at
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...
the band donned lights on their uniforms while performing at halftime. With the stadium lights turned off for the performance, the band drew such awe from radio broadcaster
Ted Husing Edward Britt Husing (November 27, 1901 – August 10, 1962) was an American sportscaster. He was among the first to lay the groundwork for the structure and pace of modern sports reporting on television and radio. Overview Early life and caree ...
, he referred to them as a "truly All-American marching band", hence the current title of the band.


Mascot


Boilermaker Special

The
Boilermaker Special The Boilermaker Special is the official mascot of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It resembles a Victorian-era railroad locomotive and is built on a truck chassis. It is operated and maintained by the student members of the Pur ...
is the official
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...
of
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...
in
West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister ci ...
. It resembles a
Victorian-era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
railroad locomotive and is built on a truck chassis. It is operated and maintained by the student members of the Purdue Reamer Club.
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...
is a
land-grant university A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts, Morrill Acts of 1862 and ...
(or Agricultural and Mechanical (A&M) university) created through the
Morrill Act of 1862 The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally-owned land, often obtained from indigenous tribes through treaty, cession, or s ...
. In the 1890s, Purdue became a leader in the research of railway technology. For many years Purdue operated the "Schenectady No. 1", and later the "Schenectady No. 2", on a dynamometer in an engineering laboratory on the
West Lafayette West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister city ...
campus. These were
4-4-0 4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four pow ...
type steam locomotives manufactured by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Schenectady was a classic Victorian-era design similar in construction to the Western and Atlantic Railroad No. 3 (see
The General (locomotive) Western & Atlantic Railroad #3 ''General'' is a 4-4-0 "American" type steam locomotive built in 1855 by the Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor in Paterson, New Jersey for the Western & Atlantic Railroad, best known as the engine stolen by Union spies ...
on display at the
Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History is a museum in Kennesaw, Georgia, that contains a collection of artifacts and relics from the American Civil War, as well as from railroads of the state of Georgia and surrounding regions. Th ...
). Purdue even operated its own railroad to connect the campus to a main rail line. In the 1930s the dynamometer was decommissioned and the Schenectady No. 2 was retired as the railroad industry in the United States converted from steam to diesel-electric locomotives. Purdue did not have a mascot. In 1939, Purdue student Israel Selkowitz suggested the school adopt an official mascot to represent Purdue's engineering heritage. He originally proposed a "mechanical man". After much debate, it was decided to build a locomotive on an automobile chassis. This choice allowed the mascot to build on Purdue's engineering and railroading heritage, as well as represent the school's nickname "Boilermakers" in a meaningful way. The "Boilermaker" nickname came about during the early years of Purdue football. There had been rumors the university enrolled burly boilermakers from the Monon Railroad shops in Lafayette, Indiana as students/football players to help beef up the scrawny football team. When a railroad operated an extra train independent of the scheduled timetable, it was known as a "special". Thus, the trains which carried Purdue's sporting teams and their fans to other cities for athletic contests were known as "Boilermaker Specials". It was a perfect match. Financial and moral support for the first Boilermaker Special was provided by key members of the Purdue University graduating class of 1907, and members of the Purdue Reamer Club from the graduating classes of 1940 and 1941.


Purdue Pete

Purdue Pete was first designed as a logo by the University Bookstore in 1940. They would put it on their products and portray him dressed up in different clothes for the different majors. He got the Purdue part of his name from
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...
.Smith, Arthur. Personal interview. October 3, 2008. Interview notes in possession. The owners of the bookstores gave him the name "Pete", yet no one officially knows why this was chosen to be his name. He was given a physical identity in 1956 as he came out and helped the students cheer at a pep rally. Over the years, the appearance of Purdue Pete has gone under several drastic changes as well as several minor changes. His original head was made of paper-mâché, pasted onto a chicken wire frame. This was very inconvenient for the person who would be underneath because it would limit his movements, yet he was still expected to move around and do stunts. This head was changed to a giant fiberglass head where the person inside would use a harness to support it. This was unpractical due to the sheer size of it. In the 1980s, Purdue Pete acquired the appearance he is now associated with. Proposals to switch to a soft-sculpture costume were rejected in 2006 and 2011.


Den of Defensive Ends

Purdue has also had a more recent tradition of sending defensive ends to the NFL. Since 1999, Purdue has had 10 defensive ends selected in the NFL Draft. With their success in the NFL, Purdue has earned the nickname, the "Den of Defensive Ends". † Defensive ends to start and win a Super Bowl.


Logos and uniforms

Purdue's colors are Old Gold and Black, as are its uniforms. Home uniforms are black with old gold numerals. On the shoulder is the player's number in old gold, and on the sleeve, there is an old gold stripe at the bottom. The pants are old gold with one black stripe along each side, with the Purdue train logo right above it. The helmet is old gold with a black stripe down the middle, a black facemask, and a black slanted "P" logo on each side. The away uniform is white with black numerals. The shoulders have black numerals on them, and the sleeve has a black stripe at the bottom. Both home and away jerseys sport the Purdue train logo in the center front of the collar, surrounded by a patch of black fabric. The away pants are black one old gold stripe on each side as well as the Purdue train logo. This uniform also features the old gold helmet used for the home uniform. Since 2013, Purdue has added in some alternate uniforms. Purdue has always had alternate uniforms utilizing black jerseys with black pants or white jerseys with old gold pants, but these uniforms always used the same old gold helmet. When Purdue updated its uniforms during Danny Hope's coaching time, they added white pants with a black stripe on each side and a train logo as well. These pants are usually seen accompanied by a white jersey, but Purdue wore them at home with their black jersey and gold helmet once in 2013. Also, in 2013, Purdue added a matte black helmet with gold railroad tracks that run down the middle of the helmet being wider in front and gradually narrowing to the back of the helmet where it ends and in its place is a train logo. The sides of the helmet also feature a gold slanted "P" logo on either side and a black facemask. This helmet was features at home in 2013 against the Ohio State Buckeyes with the default black jersey and pants. Purdue also wore this helmet as an away uniform with the default white jersey and black pants during the Old Oaken Bucket rivalry game at Indiana. In 2014, the Boilermakers wore this helmet a couple of more times, namely when they played Notre Dame at
Lucas Oil Stadium Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the National Football League (NFL)'s Indianapolis Colts and opened on August 16, 2008. The stadium was ...
in Indianapolis, when they wore it with default white jerseys and pants. They wore this same uniform combination at Indiana at the end of the year. In 2014, Purdue added no permanent uniforms, but they did have a couple special occasion helmets. In one game earlier in the year, they wore an old gold helmet with a black stripe down the middle and black facemask, but the slanted "P" logo was instead a black outline with pictures sent in by season ticket holders inside of it. In October, when the Boilers played Michigan State at home, they featured a matte black helmet with a lime green stripe down the middle, lime green slanted "P" logos, a large lime green cancer ribbon in the back, and the slogan "Hammer Down Cancer" at the back of the helmet. While, the jersey and pants were Purdue's default white for both, they also features lime green nike socks. Later in the season when they played Wisconsin at home, the Boilermakers used a matte black helmet with 3 stripes down the middle that were red, white, and blue in order with slanted "P" logos on the side that were filled with a waving American flag. The slogan at the bottom said "United" in red, "We" in white, and "Stand" in blue. This was worn with their default black jersey and pants. In 2015, Purdue added even more excitement to the uniforms. They have featured a white helmet with one side featuring the train logo in black and gold chrome with the other side featuring the player's number in black. There are two black stripes and a gold chrome stripe going down the middle, and the facemask is black with a gold chrome stripe in the middle where the stripe on the helmet continues. Also, Purdue added an Anthricite Gray alternate that used a dark gray helmet with light gray railroad tracks down the middle and a light gray slanted "P" logo on each side. The jerseys are dark gray with light gray numerals on the front and back, with light gray numerals on the shoulder and a light gray stripe at the bottom of the sleeve. Instead of the player's last name being features on the back of the jersey like all of the others do, this jersey says "BOILERMAKERS" in all black. The pants to this uniform are dark gray with a light gray stripe on each side and an alternate version of the train logo that uses only black and light gray. Against Indiana State, Purdue used a helmet similar to the one they wore in 2014 against Wisconsin but this time, the helmet was white with a black facemask. This was worn with the Anthricite gray jersey and pants. Since the arrival of Joe Tiller in 1997, Purdue players have not worn names on the backs of their jerseys. When Danny Hope took over in 2009, he added names to the backs of the jerseys. Before Tiller, the team wore uniforms that sported the school's name across the front of the jersey, and the old gold color was more pronounced, with almost a copper hue. In Tiller's first season, the helmet color was lightened substantially, as was the gold used on the rest of the uniform. Purdue's Pride sticker (given out for good performances) was the Purdue logo (locomotive). This was changed in 2006 to a sledgehammer with the slant "P" in the hammer's head (like the one wielded by mascot Purdue Pete). In the 2006 game against the
Indiana State Sycamores The Indiana State Sycamores are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic teams of Indiana State University. Since the 1977–78 academic year, Indiana State has been a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). The Indiana State foot ...
, Purdue wore a throwback uniform from 1966, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the school's first Rose Bowl team. It featured a white jersey with two outer black stripes on the shoulder and one inner gold stripe. The numerals were black with no outline. The team wore gold pants with two black stripes on the sides, and the helmets were old gold with black numbers and one black stripe down the middle. The gold in the throwback uniforms was more yellow in hue than that in the regular 1997–present uniforms. In 2002, Purdue changed from its black home jersey to an old gold jersey. The old gold uniforms had white numerals and black outline for home games, and white uniforms with old gold numbers and back outline for away games. Some complained that the numerals on the jersey were too hard to see, so in 2003 they changed to an old gold jersey with black numerals outlined in white, and white pants with two black stripes down the sides. After losing their opening game at home to Bowling Green, Tiller and the team decided to dump the gold jerseys and go back to the black uniforms. After they changed back to the black uniforms, the team came out to "
Back in Black ''Back in Black'' is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was released on 25 July 1980 by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It is the band's first album to feature lead singer Brian Johnson, following the death ...
" by AC/DC for every home game in 2003. Since then, Purdue has stayed with the black uniforms. In one game against Wisconsin in 2006, the Boilermakers wore the black jersey with black pants. They had not sported an all-black look at home since the last game of the season in 1996 against Indiana. In 2009, Purdue also wore the Black on Black in a night game against Notre Dame on the Purdue Blackout, and then wore them for the remainder of their home games. In 2010, the Black on Black remained the normal home uniform with the exception being the Homecoming game against Minnesota where the team donned Throwback Uniforms for the 2001 Rose Bowl team. While the original jerseys were made by Champion, the replicas were Nike branded. In 2013, Purdue designed a new black helmet that was used during the Ohio State and Indiana games. The all black helmet had a
matte Matte may refer to: Art * paint with a non-glossy finish. See diffuse reflection. * a framing element surrounding a painting or watercolor within the outer frame Film * Matte (filmmaking), filmmaking and video production technology * Matte pai ...
finish with a decal of train tracks down the center of the helmet, with the University's official athletic logo at the end of the tracks. Also on the helmet was the phrase "One Brick Higher", the motto coach Darrell Hazell had chosen for the season. During the 2015 season, Purdue introduced a white helmet, as well as an anthracite gray uniform. In 2016, Purdue announced that they would have a complete re-design of their uniforms for the 2016 season, using the motto, "Focus, Fight, Finish" for the three different designs.


Final rankings

Purdue has finished a season ranked in the Associated Press (AP) poll on 17 occasions. The Boilermakers have finished ranked amongst the top 10 in college football on five occasions. Purdue attained its highest-ever ranking in the polls during the preseason of the 1968 season, when they were ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll for 6 straight weeks before they lost to No. 4
Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
0–13. Since the implementation of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in 1998, Purdue has finished the regular season ranked one time in the final BCS standings. While the Boilermakers are 54–175–5 against opponents ranked in the AP Poll, they have an all-time record of 111–65–10 when ranked in the AP Poll themselves.


"Spoilermakers"

Purdue has knocked off the No. 1 ranked football team in college football seven times over the years—the third most of all the Division I teams in college football. Only
Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...
and Oklahoma have accomplished this more times. The first Spoilermaker game occurred in 1950 when Purdue broke Notre Dame's 39-game win streak. In 1953, Purdue ended Michigan State's 28-game win streak with a 6–0 win.


Individual accolades


Heisman Trophy candidates

Purdue has produced eight Heisman Trophy candidates. Four Boilermakers,
Bob Griese Robert Allen Griese (pronounced ; born February 3, 1945) is a former American football quarterback who earned All-American honors with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the American Football League's Miami Dolphins. Gr ...
,
Leroy Keyes Marvin Leroy Keyes (February 18, 1947 – April 15, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back and safety for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City ...
,
Mark Herrmann Mark Donald Herrmann (born January 8, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Herrmann played college football for th ...
and
Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...
have each been finalist for the award in two separate seasons.


Major award winners

Seven Boilermaker players and coaches have won major
college football awards A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering v ...
.


All-Americans

A total of 50 Boilermakers have been recognized as All-Americans by various media selectors. Among those selections, 21 have achieved
Consensus All-American 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 Football ...
status. Of those consensus All-Americans, seven were unanimous selections.


Conference award winners

The following Boilermakers have been recognized with
Big Ten Conference football individual awards Coaches and media of the Big Ten Conference award the following individual honors at the end of each football season. In addition, the ''Chicago Tribune'' awards the Chicago Tribune Silver Football to the most valuable football player of the confe ...
.


Hall of Fame inductees


College Football Hall of Fame

A total of 18 Boilermakers have been inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were v ...
. *
Alex Agase Alexander Arrasi Agase (March 27, 1922 – May 3, 2007) was an American football guard and linebacker who was named an All-American three times in college and played on three Cleveland Browns championship teams before becoming head football coa ...
G (1941–43, 46) *: Inducted 1963. *
Otis Armstrong Otis D. Armstrong (November 15, 1950 – October 13, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the first round with the ninth overall pick in the 1973 NFL ...
HB (1970–72) *: Inducted 2012. *
Dave Butz David Roy Butz (June 23, 1950 – November 4, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Redskins in a 16-year career fro ...
DT (1970–72) *: Inducted 2014. * William Dietz
Head Coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other Coach (sport), coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manage ...
(1921–26) *: Inducted 2012. *Chalmers "Bump" Elliott – HB (1943–44) *: Inducted 1989. *
Bob Griese Robert Allen Griese (pronounced ; born February 3, 1945) is a former American football quarterback who earned All-American honors with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the American Football League's Miami Dolphins. Gr ...
– QB (1964–66) *: Inducted 1984. *
Mark Herrmann Mark Donald Herrmann (born January 8, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Herrmann played college football for th ...
– QB (1977–80) *: Inducted 2010. *
Cecil Isbell Cecil Frank Isbell (July 11, 1915 – June 23, 1985) was an American football quarterback and coach. He played five years in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers, leading them to the NFL Championship in 1939. He retir ...
– HB (1935–37) *: Inducted 1967. *
Leroy Keyes Marvin Leroy Keyes (February 18, 1947 – April 15, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back and safety for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City ...
– HB (1966–68) *: Inducted 1990. * John McKay – Head Coach (1960–75) *: Inducted 1988 *
Jack Mollenkopf Kenneth Webster "Jack" Mollenkopf (November 24, 1903 – December 4, 1975) was the head football coach at Purdue University from 1956 until 1969. Mollenkopf was also an assistant coach at Purdue from 1947 to 1955 under Stu Holcomb. Mollenkopf w ...
– Head Coach (1955–69) *: Inducted 1988. *
Elmer Oliphant Elmer Quillen "Catchy" or "Ollie" Oliphant (July 9, 1892 – July 3, 1975) was an American football, basketball and track player and coach. He is one of the great scorers in college football history, credited with a total of 435 points in his col ...
– HB (1911–14) *: Inducted 1955. * Jim Phelan – Head Coach (1922–29) *: Inducted 1973. *
Mike Phipps Michael Elston Phipps (born January 19, 1947) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. Phipps played college footb ...
– QB (1967–69) *: Inducted 2006. *
Anthony Poindexter Anthony Scott Poindexter (born July 28, 1976) is an American football coach and former safety, who is the current safeties coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions. He played college football at Virginia from 1995 to 1998 for head coach George W ...
– Assistant Coach (2017-pres) *: Inducted 2020. * Andy Smith – Head Coach (1913–15) *: Inducted 1951. *
Rod Woodson Roderick Kevin Woodson (born March 10, 1965) is an American former professional football defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He is currently the Head Coach of the XFL's Vegas Vipers. Woodson was drafted in the ...
– S (1983–86) *: Inducted 2016. *
Jim Young James Norman Young (born June 6, 1943) is a former professional American football and Canadian football player. Young played running back and wide receiver for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings for two seasons (1965–66), and the CFL's BC Lions for ...
– Head Coach (1977–81) *: Inducted 1999.


Pro Football Hall of Fame

Four Boilermakers hold the distinguished title of
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coac ...
inductees. *
Len Dawson Leonard Ray Dawson (June 20, 1935 – August 24, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs franchise. Af ...
QB (1957–1975); HoF Class of 1987 *
Bob Griese Robert Allen Griese (pronounced ; born February 3, 1945) is a former American football quarterback who earned All-American honors with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the American Football League's Miami Dolphins. Gr ...
QB (1967–1980); HoF Class of 1990 *
Hank Stram Henry Louis Stram (; January 3, 1923 – July 4, 2005) was an American football coach. He is best known for his 15-year tenure with the Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NF ...
– Head Coach (1960–1974; 1976–1977); HoF Class of 2003 *
Rod Woodson Roderick Kevin Woodson (born March 10, 1965) is an American former professional football defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He is currently the Head Coach of the XFL's Vegas Vipers. Woodson was drafted in the ...
CB / S (1987–2003); HoF Class of 2009


Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame

Since its institution in 1994, the Purdue University Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame recognizes those participants that have helped elevate Boilermaker athletics into one of the most respected programs in the nation. Former athletes, coaches and administrators are eligible for selection 5 years following their association with Purdue athletics. The following individuals have been inducted into the Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame for their contributions to the Boilermaker football program: *
Bernie Allen : ''This is about the baseball player. For the musical project of Travis McCoy called Bernie Allen, see Bernie Allen (band).'' Bernard Keith Allen (born April 16, 1939) is a former Major League Baseball player for the Minnesota Twins, Washin ...
*
Mike Alstott Michael Joseph Alstott (born December 21, 1973), is a former American football fullback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nicknamed "A-Train", he played college football at Purdue a ...
*
Otis Armstrong Otis D. Armstrong (November 15, 1950 – October 13, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the first round with the ninth overall pick in the 1973 NFL ...
*
Erich Barnes Erich Theodore Barnes ( ; July 4, 1935 – April 29, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers (1956–1958), whe ...
*
Jim Beirne James Patrick Beirne (October 15, 1946 – May 28, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver. He played college football at Purdue University, where he was an All-American. He played professionally for the Hou ...
*
Tom Bettis Thomas William Bettis (March 17, 1933 – February 28, 2015) was an All-American football linebacker, NFL player, and NFL coach. After starring at Purdue, Bettis was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 1955 NFL Draft 5th o ...
*
Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...
*
Pete Brewster Darrel Burton Brewster (September 1, 1930 – January 3, 2020), known as Pete Brewster, was an American football end, coach, and collegiate football and basketball player. College career Brewster played football and basketball at Portland High ...
* Lawrence Burton *
Tony Butkovich Anthony J. Butkovich (April 4, 1921 – April 18, 1945) was an American football fullback from the University of Illinois and spent his last year at Purdue. He was drafted by the Cleveland Rams in the first round of the 1944 NFL Draft. Instead ...
*
Dave Butz David Roy Butz (June 23, 1950 – November 4, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Redskins in a 16-year career fro ...
*
John Charles William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United and Juventus, he was rated by many as the greatest all-roun ...
*
Rosevelt Colvin Rosevelt Colvin, III (born September 5, 1977) is a former American football linebacker, who now works as a football analyst for the Big Ten Network. Drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL Draft, he played college footba ...
* Dr. Lloyd Combs *
Gary Danielson Gary Dennis Danielson (born September 10, 1951) is an American college football commentator and former professional American football player. Danielson was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Detroit Lions from ...
*
Len Dawson Leonard Ray Dawson (June 20, 1935 – August 24, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs franchise. Af ...
* Bob DeMoss *
Babe Dimancheff Boris Stephan "Babe" Dimancheff (September 6, 1922 – October 17, 2008) was an American football halfback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Boston Yanks (1945–1946), the Chicago Cardinals (1947–1950), and the Chicago Bears ...
*
Travis Dorsch Travis Edward Dorsch (born September 4, 1979) is a former American college and professional football player turned academic who was placekicker and punter in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons during the early 2000s. He played c ...
*
Jim Everett James Samuel Everett III (born January 3, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the Purdue Boilerma ...
*
Dutch Fehring William Paul "Dutch" Fehring (May 31, 1912— April 13, 2006) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He served as the head baseball coach at Purdue University from 1936 to 1942 and at Stanford University from 1956 to 1967, compil ...
*
Bernie Flowers Benjamin Bernard Flowers (born Benjamin Bernard Kwiatkowski, February 14, 1930April 14, 2011) was an American football player who played at the end position for the Purdue University where he became a consensus first-team All-American in 1952. ...
* Tim Foley *
Bob Griese Robert Allen Griese (pronounced ; born February 3, 1945) is a former American football quarterback who earned All-American honors with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the American Football League's Miami Dolphins. Gr ...
*
Mark Herrmann Mark Donald Herrmann (born January 8, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Herrmann played college football for th ...
*
Cecil Isbell Cecil Frank Isbell (July 11, 1915 – June 23, 1985) was an American football quarterback and coach. He played five years in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers, leading them to the NFL Championship in 1939. He retir ...
*
Alpha Jamison Alpha Pierce Jamison (November 27, 1875 – April 12, 1962)"Rites Today For Ex-Purdue Athlete", ''Logansport Press'', April 14, 1962, Logansport, Indiana was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head f ...
*
Leroy Keyes Marvin Leroy Keyes (February 18, 1947 – April 15, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back and safety for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City ...
*
Noble Kizer Noble Earl "Nobe" Kizer Sr. (March 11, 1900 – June 13, 1940) was an American football and basketball player, football coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Purdue University from 1930 to 1936. During ...
*
Matt Light Matthew Charles Light (born June 23, 1978) is a former American football offensive tackle who spent his entire 11-year career playing for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Purdue Un ...
*
Lamar Lundy Lamar J. Lundy, Jr. (April 17, 1935 – February 24, 2007) was an American defensive end with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League for 13 seasons, from 1957 to 1969. Along with Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, and Rosey Grier, Lund ...
* Guy "Red" Mackey *
Felix Mackiewicz Felix Thaddeus Mackiewicz (November 20, 1917 – December 20, 1993) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1941 through 1947 for the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians, and Washingto ...
* Ned Maloney *
Jack Mollenkopf Kenneth Webster "Jack" Mollenkopf (November 24, 1903 – December 4, 1975) was the head football coach at Purdue University from 1956 until 1969. Mollenkopf was also an assistant coach at Purdue from 1947 to 1955 under Stu Holcomb. Mollenkopf w ...
*
Elmer Oliphant Elmer Quillen "Catchy" or "Ollie" Oliphant (July 9, 1892 – July 3, 1975) was an American football, basketball and track player and coach. He is one of the great scorers in college football history, credited with a total of 435 points in his col ...
*
Mike Phipps Michael Elston Phipps (born January 19, 1947) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. Phipps played college footb ...
*
Duane Purvis Duane Purvis (November 13, 1912 – March 18, 1989) was an All-American football player and track and field performer. A native of Mattoon, Illinois, Purvis played halfback and fullback for the Purdue Boilermakers from 1932 to 1934. He w ...
* Dave Rankin *
Dale Samuels Dale Allen Samuels (born August 2, 1931) is a former American football quarterback who played one season with the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cardinals in the third round of the 1953 NFL Draft. He ...
*
Jerry Shay Jerome Paul "Jerry" Shay (born July 10, 1944 in Gary, Indiana) is a former American football defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, and New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Shay played college football ...
*
Bill Skowron William Joseph Skowron (December 18, 1930 – April 27, 2012), nicknamed "Moose", was an American professional baseball first baseman. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1954 to 1967 for the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dod ...
* Elmer Sleight *
Darryl Stingley Darryl Floyd Stingley (September 18, 1951April 5, 2007) was an American professional football player, a wide receiver whose career was ended at age 26 by an on-field spinal cord injury. He played his entire five-year career with the New England ...
*
Hank Stram Henry Louis Stram (; January 3, 1923 – July 4, 2005) was an American football coach. He is best known for his 15-year tenure with the Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NF ...
*
Taylor Stubblefield Taylor Evans Stubblefield (born January 21, 1982) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the wide receiver coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions. He is a former wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers and St. Louis Ra ...
*
Leo Sugar Leo Tateusz Sugar (April 6, 1929 – September 23, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago/St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Detroit Lions. ...
* Harry Szulborski *
Joe Tiller Joseph Henry Tiller (December 7, 1942 – September 30, 2017) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1991 to 1996 and Purdue University from 1997 to 2008, with a career record of know ...
*
Keena Turner Keena Turner (born October 22, 1958) is an American football executive and former player, coach, and broadcaster. He was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 1980 NFL draft. A 6'2" 237 pound linebacker from Purdue Univer ...
* Sam Voinoff * Ralph Welch *
Rod Woodson Roderick Kevin Woodson (born March 10, 1965) is an American former professional football defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He is currently the Head Coach of the XFL's Vegas Vipers. Woodson was drafted in the ...
* Dave Young *
Jim Young James Norman Young (born June 6, 1943) is a former professional American football and Canadian football player. Young played running back and wide receiver for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings for two seasons (1965–66), and the CFL's BC Lions for ...
*
Jeff Zgonina Jeffrey Marc Zgonina (; born May 24, 1970) is an American football defensive line coach for the Washington Commanders and former defensive tackle who played seventeen seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Pu ...


Boilermakers in professional football

Purdue has produced a total of 294 NFL draft selections. The following "Active" and "All-Star" lists account for past and present Purdue University football players that have participated in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...
, the
Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...
, and the
Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
.


Active

As of December 2022, there are a total of 16 Boilermakers listed on team rosters in the NFL, and CFL *
Markus Bailey Markus LaJuan Bailey (born March 7, 1997) is an American football linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Purdue. College career After playing at Hilliard Davidson High School, ...
LB
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...
* Derrick Barnes – LB –
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) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...
*
David Bell David Bell may refer to: Academia * David Bell (university administrator) (born 1959), Scottish academic administrator and civil servant * David Bell (philosopher) (born 1947), British philosopher * David Bell (artist) (1915–1959), British curato ...
– WR –
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
*
Ja'Whaun Bentley Ja'Whaun Louis Bentley (born August 24, 1996) is an American football linebacker for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Purdue. He was drafted by the Patriots in the fifth round of the ...
– LB –
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
*
David Blough David Marshall Blough (born July 31, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He was Purdue's backup quarterback in 2015 and led the Boilermakers to a win against Nebraska. As a r ...
– QB –
Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...
* Anthony Brown – CB –
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...
*
Tyler Coyle Tyler Coyle (born November 15, 1998) is an American professional American football, football Safety (gridiron football position), safety who is a free agent. He went undrafted in the 2021 NFL draft. He played college football at UConn Huskies foo ...
– S –
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...
*
Grant Hermanns Grant Monroe Hermanns (born March 5, 1998) is an American professional football offensive tackle who is a free agent. He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers from 2016 to 2020, appearing in a total of 33 games and being named ...
– OT –
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
*
Brycen Hopkins Brycen Avery Hopkins (born March 27, 1997) is an American football tight end for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Purdue. Early life and high school Hopkins grew up in Nashville, Tenn ...
– TE –
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...
*
Zander Horvath Alexander John Horvath (born December 10, 1998) is an American football fullback who is a free agent. He played college football at Purdue. Early years Zander went to Mishawaka Catholic for elementary and middle school, where he played footba ...
– FB –
Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...
*
George Karlaftis George Karlaftis ( el, Γιώργος Ματθαίου Καρλάφτης; ; born 3 April 2001) is a Greek-born professional American football defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Athens ...
DE
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...
*
Dennis Kelly Dennis Kelly is a British scriptwriter for theatre, television and film. His play ''DNA'', first performed in 2007, became a core set-text for GCSE in 2010 and has been studied by approximately 400,000 students each year. He wrote the book ...
– OT –
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...
*
Anthony Mahoungou Anthony Jean Herve Mahoungou (born 12 February 1994) is a French professional gridiron football wide receiver for the Rhein Fire of the European League of Football (ELF). He most recently played for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Footbal ...
– WR –
Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Starting ...
*
DaMarcus Mitchell DaMarcus Mitchell (born December 13, 1998) is an American football linebacker for the Birmingham Stallions of the United Football League (UFL). He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New England Patriots in 2022. Mitchell played colle ...
– DE –
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
*
Rondale Moore Rondale DaSean Moore (born June 9, 2000) is an American football wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Purdue, and was drafted by the Cardinals in the second round of the ...
– WR –
Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...
*
Raheem Mostert Dominique Raheem Mostert (born April 9, 1992) is an American football running back for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Purdue. Mostert attended New Smyrna Beach High School in New Smyrna ...
– RB –
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pl ...


All-Stars

Among the numerous Boilermakers that have participated in the NFL, CFL, and AFL, a total of 43 have received all-star recognition by their respective leagues. *
Mike Alstott Michael Joseph Alstott (born December 21, 1973), is a former American football fullback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nicknamed "A-Train", he played college football at Purdue a ...
FB *: NFL Pro Bowl (
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
,
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
,
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...
,
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
,
2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...
,
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...
) *: NFL All-Pro (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999) *
Otis Armstrong Otis D. Armstrong (November 15, 1950 – October 13, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the first round with the ninth overall pick in the 1973 NFL ...
– RB *: NFL Pro Bowl (
1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...
,
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...
) *: NFL All-Pro (1974) *
Cliff Avril Clifford Samuel Avril (born April 8, 1986) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at Purdue and was drafted in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. He has also played for the Seattle Seaha ...
– DE :: NFL Pro Bowl (
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
) *
Erich Barnes Erich Theodore Barnes ( ; July 4, 1935 – April 29, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers (1956–1958), whe ...
– DB *: NFL Pro Bowl (
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
,
1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...
,
1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...
,
1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...
,
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...
,
1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...
) *: NFL All-Pro (1961) *
Dick Barwegan Richard J. Barwegen (December 25, 1921 – September 3, 1966) was an American professional football player who was an offensive lineman for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected to four Pro Bowls during his career. ...
– G *: NFL Pro Bowl (
1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...
,
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh ...
, 1953, 1954) *: NFL All-Pro (1948, 1949, 1950, 1951) *:
NFL 1950s All-Decade Team This is a list of all NFL players who had outstanding performances throughout the 1950s and have been compiled together into this fantasy group. The team was selected by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame retroactively in 1969 to mark the lea ...
*
Jim Beirne James Patrick Beirne (October 15, 1946 – May 28, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver. He played college football at Purdue University, where he was an All-American. He played professionally for the Hou ...
– WR *: NFL Pro Bowl (
1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 ** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
) *
Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...
– QB *: NFL Pro Bowl (
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
, 2006,
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...
, 2009 Pro Bowl, 2009, 2010 Pro Bowl, 2010, 2011 Pro Bowl, 2011, 2012 Pro Bowl, 2012, 2013 Pro Bowl, 2013, 2014 Pro Bowl, 2014, 2016 Pro Bowl, 2016,
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
, 2018 Pro Bowl, 2018) *: NFL All-Pro (2006) *
Pete Brewster Darrel Burton Brewster (September 1, 1930 – January 3, 2020), known as Pete Brewster, was an American football end, coach, and collegiate football and basketball player. College career Brewster played football and basketball at Portland High ...
– TE *: NFL Pro Bowl (1955 Pro Bowl, 1955, 1956 Pro Bowl, 1956) *Don Brumm – DE *: NFL Pro Bowl (
1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...
) *
Dave Butz David Roy Butz (June 23, 1950 – November 4, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Redskins in a 16-year career fro ...
– DL *: NFL Pro Bowl (1983 Pro Bowl, 1983) *: NFL All-Pro (1983) *: National Football League 1980s All-Decade Team, NFL 1980s All-Decade Team *Ralph Claypool – C :: NFL All-Pro (1925) *Denny Chronopoulos – OG *: CFL East All-Star () *
Len Dawson Leonard Ray Dawson (June 20, 1935 – August 24, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs franchise. Af ...
– QB *: NFL Pro Bowl (
1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...
,
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...
, 1966 Pro Bowl, 1966, 1967 Pro Bowl, 1967,
1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...
,
1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 ** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
, 1971 Pro Bowl, 1971) *: NFL All-Pro (1962, 1966) *: Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, Super Bowl IV MVP *: Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, NFL Man of the Year Award (1973) *: American Football League All-Time Team, 2nd Team, AFL All-Time Team *: Kansas City Chiefs#Retired numbers, Kansas City Chiefs #16 retired *:
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coac ...
(1987) *Cris Dishman – DB *: NFL Pro Bowl (1991 Pro Bowl, 1991,
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
) *: NFL All-Pro (1991) *Johnny Drake – DB *: NFL Pro Bowl (1938 Pro Bowl, 1938, 1939 Pro Bowl, 1939, 1940 Pro Bowl, 1940) *: NFL All-Pro (1940) *
Jim Everett James Samuel Everett III (born January 3, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the Purdue Boilerma ...
– QB *: NFL Pro Bowl (1990 Pro Bowl, 1990) *Ed Flanagan (American football), Ed Flanagan – C *: NFL Pro Bowl (
1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 ** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
, 1970 Pro Bowl, 1970, 1971 Pro Bowl, 1971, 1973 Pro Bowl, 1973) * Tim Foley – CB/S *: NFL Pro Bowl (1979 Pro Bowl, 1979) *Abe Gibron – G *: NFL Pro Bowl (
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh ...
, 1953, 1954, 1955 Pro Bowl, 1955) *Mel Gray (return specialist), Mel Gray – RB, WR, KR, PR *: NFL Pro Bowl (1990 Pro Bowl, 1990, 1991 Pro Bowl, 1991, 1992 Pro Bowl, 1992. 1994 Pro Bowl, 1994) *: NFL All-Pro (1990, 1991, 1994) *: National Football League 1990s All-Decade Team, NFL 1990s All-Decade Team *
Bob Griese Robert Allen Griese (pronounced ; born February 3, 1945) is a former American football quarterback who earned All-American honors with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the American Football League's Miami Dolphins. Gr ...
– QB *: NFL Pro Bowl (1967 Pro Bowl, 1967,
1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...
, 1970 Pro Bowl, 1970, 1971 Pro Bowl, 1971, 1973 Pro Bowl, 1973,
1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...
, 1977 Pro Bowl, 1977, 1978 Pro Bowl, 1978) *: NFL All-Pro (1971, 1977) *:
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pl ...
#12 retired *: Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins Honor Roll *:
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coac ...
(1990) *Steve Griffin – WR, DB *: ArenaBowl II MVP *Nick Hardwick (American football), Nick Hardwick – C *: NFL Pro Bowl ( 2006) *
Cecil Isbell Cecil Frank Isbell (July 11, 1915 – June 23, 1985) was an American football quarterback and coach. He played five years in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers, leading them to the NFL Championship in 1939. He retir ...
– QB, RB *: NFL Pro Bowl (1938 Pro Bowl, 1938, 1939 Pro Bowl, 1939, 1940 Pro Bowl, 1940, 1941 Pro Bowl, 1941, 1942 Pro Bowl, 1942) *: NFL All-Pro (1941) *: Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, Packers Hall of Fame *: National Football League 1930s All-Decade Team, NFL 1930s All-Decade Team *Larry Kaminski – C *: NFL Pro Bowl (1967 Pro Bowl, 1967) *Ryan Kerrigan – LB *: NFL Pro Bowl (2012 Pro Bowl, 2012, 2016 Pro Bowl, 2016,
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
, 2018 Pro Bowl, 2018) *Joe Krupa – DT *: NFL Pro Bowl (
1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...
) *
Matt Light Matthew Charles Light (born June 23, 1978) is a former American football offensive tackle who spent his entire 11-year career playing for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Purdue Un ...
– OT *: NFL Pro Bowl ( 2006, 2007 Pro Bowl, 2007, 2010 Pro Bowl, 2010) *: NFL All-Pro (2007) *
Lamar Lundy Lamar J. Lundy, Jr. (April 17, 1935 – February 24, 2007) was an American defensive end with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League for 13 seasons, from 1957 to 1969. Along with Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, and Rosey Grier, Lund ...
– DE *: NFL Pro Bowl (
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
) *Joe Mihal – OT *: NFL Pro Bowl (1940 Pro Bowl, 1940, 1941 Pro Bowl, 1941) *Ookie Miller – C/G/LB :: NFL All-Pro (1933) *
Elmer Oliphant Elmer Quillen "Catchy" or "Ollie" Oliphant (July 9, 1892 – July 3, 1975) was an American football, basketball and track player and coach. He is one of the great scorers in college football history, credited with a total of 435 points in his col ...
– WB/TB :: NFL All-Pro (1921) *Ken Panfil – OT *: NFL Pro Bowl (
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
) *John Petty (American football), John Petty – FB *: NFL Pro Bowl (1942 Pro Bowl, 1942) *Shaun Phillips – DE, LB *: NFL Pro Bowl (2010 Pro Bowl, 2010) *Mike Pruitt – RB *: NFL Pro Bowl (1979 Pro Bowl, 1979, 1980 Pro Bowl, 1980) *Jim Schwantz – LB *: NFL Pro Bowl (1996 Pro Bowl, 1996) *Kory Sheets – RB *: CFL All-Star () *: Grey Cup Most Valuable Player () *Kawann Short – DT *: NFL All-Pro (2015) *: NFL Pro Bowl (2016 Pro Bowl, 2016, 2018 Pro Bowl, 2018) *Anthony Spencer – DE :: NFL Pro Bowl (2013 Pro Bowl, 2013) *
Leo Sugar Leo Tateusz Sugar (April 6, 1929 – September 23, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago/St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Detroit Lions. ...
– DE *: NFL Pro Bowl (1958 Pro Bowl, 1958, 1960 Pro Bowl, 1960) *
Keena Turner Keena Turner (born October 22, 1958) is an American football executive and former player, coach, and broadcaster. He was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 1980 NFL draft. A 6'2" 237 pound linebacker from Purdue Univer ...
– LB *: NFL Pro Bowl (1984 Pro Bowl, 1984) *
Rod Woodson Roderick Kevin Woodson (born March 10, 1965) is an American former professional football defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He is currently the Head Coach of the XFL's Vegas Vipers. Woodson was drafted in the ...
– DB *: NFL Pro Bowl (1989 Pro Bowl, 1989, 1990 Pro Bowl, 1990, 1991 Pro Bowl, 1991, 1992 Pro Bowl, 1992, 1993 Pro Bowl, 1993, 1994 Pro Bowl, 1994, 1996 Pro Bowl, 1996,
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...
,
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
,
2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...
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2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...
) *: NFL All-Pro (1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2002) *: Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team *: NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1993) *: UPI AFL-AFC Player of the Year (1993) *: NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team *: NFL 1990s All-Decade Team


NFL top 50 draft selections

Of Purdue's 286 players selected in the NFL Draft, 58 Boilermakers have been amongst the top 50 selections of the draft. *Frank Loebs *: 1936 NFL Draft, 1936 – 27th overall by the New York Giants *Dick Sandefur *: 1936 NFL Draft, 1936 – 39th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates (NFL), Pittsburgh Pirates *Johnny Drake *: 1937 NFL Draft, 1937 – 10th overall by the Cleveland Rams *
Cecil Isbell Cecil Frank Isbell (July 11, 1915 – June 23, 1985) was an American football quarterback and coach. He played five years in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers, leading them to the NFL Championship in 1939. He retir ...
*: 1938 NFL Draft, 1938 – 7th overall by the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...
*Marty Schreyer *: 1938 NFL Draft, 1938 – 22nd overall by the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...
*Joe Mihal *: 1939 NFL Draft, 1939 – 19th overall by the Philadelphia Eagles *Lou Brock (American football), Lou Brock *: 1940 NFL Draft, 1940 – 24th overall by the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...
*Frank Bykowski *: 1940 NFL Draft, 1940 – 42nd overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers *
Babe Dimancheff Boris Stephan "Babe" Dimancheff (September 6, 1922 – October 17, 2008) was an American football halfback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Boston Yanks (1945–1946), the Chicago Cardinals (1947–1950), and the Chicago Bears ...
*: 1944 NFL Draft, 1944 – 19th overall by the Boston Yanks *
Dick Barwegan Richard J. Barwegen (December 25, 1921 – September 3, 1966) was an American professional football player who was an offensive lineman for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected to four Pro Bowls during his career. ...
*: 1945 NFL Draft, 1945 – 44th overall by the Boston Yanks *Ed Cody *: 1946 NFL Draft, 1946 – 36th overall by the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...
*Phil O'Reilly *: 1948 NFL Draft, 1948 – 45th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers *Bob Pfohl *: 1948 NFL Draft, 1948 – 46th overall by the New York Giants * Bob DeMoss *: 1949 NFL Draft, 1949 – 13th overall by the New York Bulldogs *Lou Karras *: 1950 NFL Draft, 1950 – 32nd overall by the Washington Redskins *Earl Murray *: 1950 NFL Draft, 1950 – 41st overall by the Baltimore Colts *Barry French *: 1951 NFL Draft, 1951 – 45t overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers *
Pete Brewster Darrel Burton Brewster (September 1, 1930 – January 3, 2020), known as Pete Brewster, was an American football end, coach, and collegiate football and basketball player. College career Brewster played football and basketball at Portland High ...
*: 1952 NFL Draft, 1952 – 21st overall by the Chicago Cardinals (NFL, 1920–59), Chicago Cardinals *
Bernie Flowers Benjamin Bernard Flowers (born Benjamin Bernard Kwiatkowski, February 14, 1930April 14, 2011) was an American football player who played at the end position for the Purdue University where he became a consensus first-team All-American in 1952. ...
*: 1953 NFL Draft, 1953 – 14th overall by the Baltimore Colts *
Dale Samuels Dale Allen Samuels (born August 2, 1931) is a former American football quarterback who played one season with the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cardinals in the third round of the 1953 NFL Draft. He ...
*: 1953 NFL Draft, 1953 – 28th overall by the Chicago Cardinals *
Tom Bettis Thomas William Bettis (March 17, 1933 – February 28, 2015) was an All-American football linebacker, NFL player, and NFL coach. After starring at Purdue, Bettis was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 1955 NFL Draft 5th o ...
*: 1955 NFL Draft, 1955 – 5th overall by the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...
*Joe Krupa *: 1956 NFL Draft, 1956 – 17th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers *Dick Murley *: 1956 NFL Draft, 1956 – 39th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers *
Len Dawson Leonard Ray Dawson (June 20, 1935 – August 24, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs franchise. Af ...
*: 1957 NFL Draft, 1957 – 5th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers *
Lamar Lundy Lamar J. Lundy, Jr. (April 17, 1935 – February 24, 2007) was an American defensive end with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League for 13 seasons, from 1957 to 1969. Along with Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, and Rosey Grier, Lund ...
*: 1957 NFL Draft, 1957 – 47th overall by the
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...
*
Erich Barnes Erich Theodore Barnes ( ; July 4, 1935 – April 29, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers (1956–1958), whe ...
*: 1958 NFL Draft, 1958 – 42nd overall by the Chicago Bears *Tom Franckhauser *: 1959 NFL Draft, 1959 – 33rd overall by the
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...
*Ross Fichtner *: 1960 NFL Draft, 1960 – 33rd overall by the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
*Don Brumm *: 1963 NFL Draft, 1963 – 13th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals (football), St. Louis Cardinals *Jim Garcia *: 1965 NFL Draft, 1965 – 17th overall by the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
*
Jerry Shay Jerome Paul "Jerry" Shay (born July 10, 1944 in Gary, Indiana) is a former American football defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, and New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Shay played college football ...
*: 1966 NFL Draft, 1966 – 7th overall by the Minnesota Vikings *
Bob Griese Robert Allen Griese (pronounced ; born February 3, 1945) is a former American football quarterback who earned All-American honors with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the American Football League's Miami Dolphins. Gr ...
*: 1967 NFL Draft, 1967 – 4th overall by the
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pl ...
*
John Charles William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United and Juventus, he was rated by many as the greatest all-roun ...
*: 1967 – 21st overall by the Boston Patriots *
Leroy Keyes Marvin Leroy Keyes (February 18, 1947 – April 15, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back and safety for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City ...
*: 1969 NFL Draft, 1969 – 3rd overall by the Philadelphia Eagles *
Mike Phipps Michael Elston Phipps (born January 19, 1947) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. Phipps played college footb ...
*: 1970 NFL Draft, 1970 – 3rd overall by the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
*
Dave Butz David Roy Butz (June 23, 1950 – November 4, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Redskins in a 16-year career fro ...
*: 1973 NFL Draft, 1973 – 5th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals *
Otis Armstrong Otis D. Armstrong (November 15, 1950 – October 13, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the first round with the ninth overall pick in the 1973 NFL ...
*: 1973 NFL Draft, 1973 – 9th overall by the Denver Broncos *
Darryl Stingley Darryl Floyd Stingley (September 18, 1951April 5, 2007) was an American professional football player, a wide receiver whose career was ended at age 26 by an on-field spinal cord injury. He played his entire five-year career with the New England ...
*: 1973 NFL Draft, 1973 – 19th overall by the
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
*Gary Hrivnak *: 1973 NFL Draft, 1973 – 48th overall by the Chicago Bears *Larry Burton *: 1975 NFL Draft, 1975 – 7th overall by the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
*Mike Pruitt *: 1976 NFL Draft, 1976 – 7th overall by the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
*Ken Novak *: 1976 NFL Draft, 1976 – 20th overall by the Baltimore Colts *Ken Long *: 1976 NFL Draft, 1976 – 44th overall by the
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) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...
*
Keena Turner Keena Turner (born October 22, 1958) is an American football executive and former player, coach, and broadcaster. He was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 1980 NFL draft. A 6'2" 237 pound linebacker from Purdue Univer ...
*: 1980 NFL Draft, 1980 – 39th overall by the San Francisco 49ers * Dave Young *: 1981 NFL Draft, 1981 – 32nd overall by the New York Giants *Don Anderson (American football), Don Anderson *: 1985 NFL Draft, 1985 – 32nd overall by the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...
*
Jim Everett James Samuel Everett III (born January 3, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the Purdue Boilerma ...
*: 1986 NFL Draft, 1986 – 3rd overall by the Houston Oilers *
Rod Woodson Roderick Kevin Woodson (born March 10, 1965) is an American former professional football defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He is currently the Head Coach of the XFL's Vegas Vipers. Woodson was drafted in the ...
*: 1987 NFL Draft, 1987 – 10th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers *Fred Strickland *: 1988 NFL Draft, 1988 – 47th overall by the
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...
*
Mike Alstott Michael Joseph Alstott (born December 21, 1973), is a former American football fullback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nicknamed "A-Train", he played college football at Purdue a ...
*: 1996 NFL Draft, 1996 – 35th overall by the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
*
Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...
*: 2001 NFL Draft, 2001 – 32nd overall by the San Diego Chargers *
Matt Light Matthew Charles Light (born June 23, 1978) is a former American football offensive tackle who spent his entire 11-year career playing for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Purdue Un ...
*: 2001 NFL Draft, 2001 – 48th overall by the
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
*Anthony Spencer *: 2007 NFL Draft, 2007 – 26th overall by the
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...
*Dustin Keller *: 2008 NFL Draft, 2008 – 30th overall by the New York Jets *Ryan Kerrigan *: 2011 NFL Draft, 2011 – 16th overall by the Washington Redskins *Kawann Short *: 2013 NFL Draft, 2013 – 44th overall by the Carolina Panthers *
Rondale Moore Rondale DaSean Moore (born June 9, 2000) is an American football wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Purdue, and was drafted by the Cardinals in the second round of the ...
*: 2021 NFL Draft, 2021 – 49th overall by the
Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...
*
George Karlaftis George Karlaftis ( el, Γιώργος Ματθαίου Καρλάφτης; ; born 3 April 2001) is a Greek-born professional American football defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Athens ...
*: 2022 NFL Draft, 2022 – 30th overall by the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...


Records

All statistical records are courtesy of th
Purdue Football Record Book
unless otherwise cited. Statistics containing the "#" symbol denote NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, NCAA FBS records.


Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of December 2, 2020. :''There are no games scheduled for the 2032 season.''


Radio network affiliates


References


External links


Official website
{{Big Ten Conference football navbox Purdue Boilermakers football, American football teams established in 1887 1887 establishments in Indiana