Rufus Will Granderson (August 13, 1936 – October 20, 2015) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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

who played one season with the

Dallas Texans Dallas Texans may refer to: American football *Dallas Texans (NFL), 1952 team in the National Football League *Dallas Texans (AFL), 1960–1962 team that is now the Kansas City Chiefs *Dallas Texans (arena football) The Dallas Texans were an ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL). He was selected 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) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

in the nineteenth round of the

1959 NFL draft The 1959 NFL draft had its first four rounds held on December 1, 1958, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 21, 1959. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. With the first overall pick in the draft, the Green Bay Pa ...

after playing

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas, United States. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two lan ...

Early life and college

Rufus Will Granderson was born on August 13, 1936, in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

. He attended Temple High School in

Temple, Texas Temple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the city has a population of 82,073 according to the 2020 United States census, U.S. census. Temple lies in the region referred to as Central Texas and is a principal city in th ...

. Granderson was a member of the Prairie View A&M Panthers of Prairie View A&M College of Texas from 1956 to 1959 as a

. The 1958 Panthers were black college national champions.

Professional career

Granderson was selected by the

in the 19th round, with the 221st overall pick, of the

. He signed with the team on January 13, 1960. He was released on August 28, 1960. Granderson then signed with the

of the

and played in six games for the team during the 1960 season as a defensive tackle. He was an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

for the Grand Rapids Shamrocks of the United Football League (UFL) in 1961 and earned All-UFL honors. He played in one game for the newly-renamed Grand Rapids Blazers in 1962.

Personal life

Granderson later worked at Kendal Furniture, retiring in 2003. On February 21, 2015, the Temple Black Heritage Committee and the Temple Juneteenth Association named him the "Trailblazer of the Year" for being the first black pro football player from Temple, Texas. February 21, 2015 was then declared Rufus Granderson Day. He died on October 20, 2015, in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granderson, Rufus 1936 births 2015 deaths Players of American football from Waco, Texas Players of American football from Temple, Texas American football defensive tackles American football offensive tackles Prairie View A&M Panthers football players Detroit Lions players Dallas Texans (AFL) players United Football League (1961–1964) players Temple High School (Texas) alumni