Roland Richard "Tuffy" Nabors (July 22, 1924 – December 3, 1999) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player who played at the

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

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

positions. He played college football for

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

and professional football for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

Early years

Nabors was born in 1924 in Meadow, Texas. He attended

Lubbock High School Lubbock High School is a 5A high school serving grades nine to twelve in Lubbock, Texas, as part of the Lubbock Independent School District. The school was founded in 1891 as the first high school in Lubbock County. Lubbock High School predat ...

. He played for the Lubbock High football team in 1939, 1940, and 194, and also received

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. A person who ...

s in basketball and track.

College football and military service

Nabors played college football at

in 1942, 1946, and 1947. He received numerous accolades for his college football career, including the following: * He received an honorable mention from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

on the 1947 All-America team. * He was selected for the All-Border Conference team. * He was invited to play in the 1947 Blue-Gray game in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

. * He was "named by every foe picking a team as the best center to oppose it." He was also rated as "one of the nation's best pivot men", and "one of the greatest linemen in Texas Tech history." He also lettered in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

at Texas Tech. Nabors' athletic career was interrupted by service in the Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He entered the Army in June 1943 and served in the Pacific theater of operations. He returned to the United States in July 1945.

Professional football

Nabors was selected by the

in the seventh round (55th overall pick) of the 1947 AFCA Draft. He played for the Yankees during their 1948 season. He appeared in a total of 10 AAFC games.

Later years

In August 1949, he was hired as the line coach for the Texas Western Miners (later renamed UTEP) football program. Nabors served as the line coach at Texas Western for three years, ultimately resigning in January 1953 to enter private business. In June 1953, he opened the 'Tuffy' Nabors Service Station in Lubbock. He later worked for 20 years at the Texas State Comptroller's Office. He later operated a Coors beer distributorship in San Antonio. Nabors' son, Rick Nabors, later played college football for the Texas Longhorns. Nabors died in 1999 in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...

, at age 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nabors, Roland 1924 births 1999 deaths New York Yankees (AAFC) players Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Players of American football from Texas United States Army personnel of World War II