Herb Adderley

Herb Adderley
refer to caption
Adderley with the Green Bay Packers
No. 26
Position:Cornerback
Personal information
Born:(1939-06-08)June 8, 1939
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died:October 30, 2020(2020-10-30) (aged 81)
Mantua, New Jersey, U.S.
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school:Northeast
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
College:Michigan State (1957–1960)
NFL draft:1961 / round: 1 / pick: 12
AFL draft:1961 / round: 2 / pick: 10
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Interceptions:48
Interception yards:1,046
Fumble recoveries:14
Defensive touchdowns:7
Stats at Pro Football Reference
Pro Football Hall of Fame

Herbert Anthony Adderley (June 8, 1939 – October 30, 2020) was an American professional football cornerback who played for the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). In 1980, he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[1]

Adderley played college football for the Michigan State Spartans and was an All-Big Ten offensive star as a halfback.[1] He is the only player to appear in four of the first six Super Bowls.

Early life

[edit]

Born on June 8, 1939, and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Adderley's parents were Charles and Reva (White) Adderley. Charles was a factory machinist.[2] Adderly graduated from Northeast High School in 1957, where he starred in football, basketball, and baseball,[3] and won All-City Honors in all three.[1] He also lettered in track. Adderley and his football backfield teammate Angelo Coia were known as the "Touchdown Twins". Coia would go on to have a seven year NFL career as a receiver.[4]

College career

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Adderley attended Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing, his first time coming out of Philadelphia.[5] He played football under head coach Duffy Daugherty,[6] primarily as a halfback, but also at safety.[7] He led the Spartans in rushing yards as a junior in 1959 and pass receptions in both 1959 and 1960.[7] Adderley was the co-captain of the team as a senior, and played both offense and defense.[1][5] For his MSU career, he had 813 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns, plus 28 pass receptions for 519 yards and four receiving touchdowns.[6]

He made first team All-Big Ten Conference,[5] and played in the East-West Shrine Game, the Coaches' All-American, and the College All-Star games.[1] He was picked for the All-Michigan State University team in 1970.[8]

He is also one of the founding members of the Sigma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity at Michigan State University along with Ernie Green of the "Little Rock Nine" established on campus in 1960 or 1961.[9][10]

  • 1958: 9 Games - 37 carries for 143 yards and 2 TD. 6 catches for 100 yards.[11]
  • 1959: 9 Games - 93 carries for 413 yards and 2 TD. 13 catches for 265 yards and 2 TD.
  • 1960: 9 Games - 68 carries for 251 yards. 9 catches for 154 yards and 2 TD.

Professional career

[edit]

Adderley was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 1961 NFL draft, the 12th overall pick.[1] He was also drafted by the New York Titans (later Jets) in the second round of the AFL draft.[7] He began his professional career as a halfback on offense, but was later switched to defense because the Packers already had eventual Hall of Fame runners in Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor.[1] Adderley was first moved to cornerback to replace injured teammate Hank Gremminger against Detroit on Thanksgiving of 1961.[1][12][13] and made an interception that set up the game-winning touchdown.[14][15]

In 1962, the move became permanent and Adderley went on to become an all-NFL selection five times in the 1960s. Packers coach Vince Lombardi remarked, "I was too stubborn to switch him to defense until I had to. Now when I think of what Adderley means to our defense, it scares me to think of how I almost mishandled him."[16] In a 1962 game against the Baltimore Colts and future hall of fame quarterback great Johnny Unitas, Adderley had a 103-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, intercepted a pass, and saved the game with a fourth down pass deflection at the two yard-line in the game's final minute.[7] In 1965, he did not allow any touchdown receptions for the entire season.[17]

Adderley recorded 39 interceptions in his nine seasons with the Packers, leading the team in four seasons, and ranking third in total interceptions in Packer history at the time of his death.[7][16] He led the league in interceptions in 1965 and 1969.[6] He held the Green Bay records for interceptions returned for touchdowns in a career (seven, tied by Darren Sharper and then broken by Charles Woodson[17]), and holds the record for interceptions returned for touchdowns in one season (three, in 1965,[17] tied by Nick Collins and Woodson). Adderley was also an excellent run defender.[18]

Adderley started for the Packers from 1961 to 1969, then played three seasons (1970–1972) with the Dallas Cowboys. While with the Packers, he won rings for five NFL championships and wins in the first two Super Bowls.[1][18] Adderley was a factor in the Super Bowl II win over the Oakland Raiders, intercepting a pass by Raiders quarterback Daryle Lamonica in the fourth quarter and returning it 60 yards for a touchdown to put the game away.[1][2] It was the first Super Bowl touchdown scored on an intercepted pass.[1]

Adderley had a strained relationship with Phil Bengtson by the end of the latter's second and penultimate year as Packers head coach.[19] He accused Bengtson of keeping him off the Pro Bowl team in 1969 and requested to be traded.[20] After a holdout and two weeks before the start of the regular season, he was sent from the Packers to the Dallas Cowboys for Malcolm Walker and Clarence Williams on September 1, 1970.[21] He became a vital cog in its "Doomsday Defense,"[22] assisting the Cowboys to a Super Bowl appearance in V and a win in VI.[18]

Adderley admired Packer head coach Vince Lombardi, but not Tom Landry of the Cowboys.[19] Benched in favor of a young Charlie Waters during the middle of the 1972 season,[23] Adderley was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in the summer of 1973. He opted not to report and retired on August 7, after a dozen seasons in the NFL.[1]

Along with the Patriots' Tom Brady, who has won 7 world championships,[24] and two Packer teammates, offensive linemen Fuzzy Thurston (Colts) and Forrest Gregg (Cowboys), Adderley is one of only four players in pro football history to play on at least six world championship teams.[25] However, in a revised edition of Instant Replay, a memoir by Packer teammate Jerry Kramer, Adderley is quoted as saying, "I'm the only man with a Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl ring who doesn't wear it. I'm a Green Bay Packer."[26]

In his 12 seasons, Adderley recorded 48 interceptions,[18] which he returned for 1,046 yards and seven touchdowns, an average of 21.8 yards per return.[2][17][16] He also recovered 14 fumbles (returning them for 65 yards)[27] and returned 120 kickoffs for 3,080 yards[2] and two scores.[1][16] Over his career, Adderley's teams were 127-46-5, a .713 winning percentage.[7]

Adderley was the first NFL player ever to gain more than 1,000 interception return yards. Only eight other players have achieved this since then, and all of them did so with more interceptions than Adderley.[28]

Awards and honors

[edit]

Adderley has received the following awards and honors, among others;

  • Inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame (1980)[7]
  • Named 58th greatest player in The Athletic's NFL 100 greatest players of all time (2021)[18]
  • Named 45th greatest playing in The Sporting News 100 greatest players of all time (1999)[29]
  • Associated Press All-Pro Team (1962-1963, 1965-1966, 1969)[7]
  • Pro Bowl Selection (1963-1967)[7]
  • Named runner up at defensive back on NFL 50th Anniversary All Time Team (1969)[30]
  • Named to Packers 50th Anniversary Team (1969)[7]
  • Named to Packers All-Modern Era Team (1976)[7]
  • Inducted into Michigan State University Athletics Hall of Fame (2022)[5]
  • Inducted into Michigan Sports Hall of Fame (1996)[8]
  • Named to All-Michigan State University Team (1970)[8]
  • Inducted into Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame[31]

NFL career statistics

[edit]
Legend
Won the NFL championship
Won the Super Bowl
Led the league
Bold Career high

Regular season

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Year Team Games Interceptions Fumbles Returning
GP GS Int Yds Y/I Lng TD FR Yds Y/F TD Rt Yds Y/Rt Lng TD
1961 GB 14 1 1 9 9.0 9 0 0 0 — 0 18 478 26.6 61 0
1962 GB 14 14 7 132 18.9 50 1 4 15 3.8 0 15 418 27.9 103[a] 1[b]
1963 GB 14 14 5 86 17.2 39 0 0 0 — 0 20 597 29.9 98 1
1964 GB 13 13 4 56 14.0 35 0 1 18 18.0 0 19 508 26.7 43 0
1965 GB 14 14 6 175 29.2 44 3 3 2 0.7 0 11 221 20.1 33 0
1966 GB 14 14 4 125 31.3 68 1 2 0 0.0 0 14 320 22.9 65 0
1967 GB 14 14 4 16 4.0 12 1 1 0 0.0 0 10 207 20.7 37 0
1968 GB 14 14 3 27 9.0 17 0 2 25 12.5 0 14 331 23.6 50 0
1969 GB 14 14 5 169 33.8 80 1 0 0 — 0 0 0 — 0 0
1970 DAL 14 14 3 69 23.0 30 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 — 0 0
1971 DAL 12 12 6 182 30.3 46 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 — 0 0
1972 DAL 13 7 0 0 — 0 0 1 5 5.0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Career 164 145 48 1,046 21.8 80 7 14 65 4.6 0 121 3,080 25.5 103 2
  1. ^ Led the league in regular season for longest kickoff return: 103.[32]
  2. ^ Led the league in regular season for kickoffs returned for touchdowns: 1.[32]

Postseason

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Year Team Games Interceptions Fumbles Returning
GP GS Int Yds Y/I Lng TD FR Yds Y/F TD Rt Yds Y/Rt Lng TD
1961 GB 1 0 1 14 14.0 14 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 — 0 0
1962 GB 1 1 0 0 — 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 — 0 0
1965 GB 2 2 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 — 0 2 32 16.0 17 0
1966 GB 2 2 0 0 — 0 0 0 0 — 0 5 105 21.0 26 0
1967 GB 3 3 2 75 37.5 60 1 1 0 0.0 0 1 24 24.0 24 0
1970 DAL 3 3 0 0 — 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 — 0 0
1971 DAL 3 3 1 8 8.0 8 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 — 0 0
Career 15 14 5 97 19.4 60 1 1 0 0.0 0 8 161 20.1 26 0

Post-NFL

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After Adderley retired, he returned to Philadelphia to broadcast football games for Temple University and the Philadelphia Eagles.[1][4] He also coached as an assistant at Temple and with the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League under head coach Willie Wood, a Packer teammate.[1][4][17]

Adderley was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.[1] A year after his induction in Canton, Adderley became a member of the Packer Hall of Fame in 1981.[33] He was also chosen for the AFL-NFL 1960-1984 All-Star teams.[1]

In 2007, Adderley became lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the NFL Players Association, for alleged non-payment of fees due under licensing and marketing agreements with the players, in connection with the use of the players' images in video games, and on trading cards and other items. In 2009, the case settled for $26.25 million.[6]

Adderley's cousin's grandson (first cousin twice removed), Nasir Adderley, was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers in the second round of the 2019 NFL draft.[34][35] His first interception was against Pro Bowl and All Pro quarterback Drew Brees.[4]

Adderley died on October 30, 2020, at the age of 81.[36][37]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Windhausen, John D (2002) [1992]. Dawson, Dawn P (ed.). Great Athletes. Vol. 1 (Revised ed.). Salem Press. pp. 14–16. ISBN 1-58765-008-8.
  2. ^ a b c d Goldstein, Richard (October 30, 2020). "Herb Adderley, a Packers Hall of Fame Cornerback, Dies at 81". New York Times.
  3. ^ Amprey, Joseph L. Jr. (June 7, 2000). "Hall of famer Adderley never forgot Philly roots". Reading Eagle. Pennsylvania. (editorial). p. B9.
  4. ^ a b c d Fitzpatrick, Frank (October 30, 2020). "Herb Adderley, a Philadelphian who became a Hall of Famer as a Packer, dies at 81". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  5. ^ a b c d Black, Ryan. "Why it took so long for Herb Adderley to enter MSU's sports Hall of Fame — and more from Friday's induction ceremony". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d "Michigan State great, NFL Hall of Famer Herb Adderley dies at 81". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Herb Adderly, Packers.com, the official website of the Green Bay Packers". www.packers.com. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c "Herbert Allen (Herb) Adderley". Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  9. ^ Hunt, Donald (April 28, 2021). "Herb Adderley, Pro Football Hall of Famer, 81". Philadelphia Tribune.
  10. ^ Brooks, Kevin L. (2021). "Fred R. Porter: 10th District". Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men. 9 (1): 355–362. ISSN 2162-3252.
  11. ^ "Herb Adderley Stats | College Football at Sports-Reference.com". Archived from the original on March 18, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  12. ^ Johnson, Chuck (November 24, 1961). "Packers near title by defeating Lions". Milwaukee Journal. p. 4, part 2.
  13. ^ Wolf, Bob (May 31, 1979). "When big play was the answer, Packer Adderley was a good bet". Milwaukee Journal. p. 3, part 3.
  14. ^ Lea, Bud (November 24, 1961). "Packers trip Lions 17-9; 1 win from title repeat". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1, part 4.
  15. ^ Bochat, Rel (November 24, 1961). "3 service players big boost - Vince". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1, part 4.
  16. ^ a b c d Huber, Bill (October 30, 2020). "Packers Legend Adderley Dies". Green Bay Packers On SI. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  17. ^ a b c d e "'Greatest Cornerback' Herb Adderley: 1939-2020 | Pro Football Hall of Fame". pfhof. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  18. ^ a b c d e Hughes, Connor. "NFL 100: At No. 58, Herb Adderley was the perfect wingman, and a star cornerback all on his own". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  19. ^ a b Brown, Clifton (October 13, 2012). "Herb Adderley's book shines negative light on Tom Landry". Sporting News. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  20. ^ "Adderely says he's fed up with Packers". The Morning Record. Meriden, Connecticut. Associated Press. December 23, 1969. p. 11.
  21. ^ Di Petro, Bob (September 2, 1970). "Adderley traded". Times News. Hendersonville, North Carolina. UPI. p. 9.
  22. ^ Epstein, Jori (October 4, 2022). "'Doomsday is back': How a stellar defense has carried Cowboys to a 3-1 start and hearkened memories of the glory days". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  23. ^ "Waters replaces Adderley at cornerback for Dallas". Spartanburg Herald. South Carolina. Associated Press. November 2, 1970. p. D3.
  24. ^ "Super Bowl 2021: Tom Brady wins seventh title as Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Kansas City Chiefs". BBC Sport. February 8, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  25. ^ "Only four players in 100 years have won six NFL titles". FOX Sports. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  26. ^ Dougherty, Pete. "Hall of Fame Packers cornerback Herb Adderley dies at 81". Packers News. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  27. ^ "Herb Adderly". statscrew.com.
  28. ^ "NFL Interception Return Yards Career Leaders (Since 1940)". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  29. ^ "The Sporting News 100 Greatest Players of All-Time (1999)". futurefootballlegends.com. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  30. ^ "Unitas QBs NFL Team". Tampa Tribune. September 7, 1969. p. 34.
  31. ^ Jerardi, Dick (July 8, 2012). "The men behind the Philly Sports Hall of Fame". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  32. ^ a b "Herb Adderley Stats". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  33. ^ Christl, Cliff. "Herb Adderley". Packers.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  34. ^ "Nasir Adderley working to live up to DB bloodline". www.giants.com. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  35. ^ "Nasir Adderley". www.chargers.com. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  36. ^ "Herb Adderley, Packers legend and Hall of Fame CB, passes away at age 81". NFL.com. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  37. ^ Smith, Michael David (October 30, 2020). "Hall of Famer Herb Adderley dies at 81". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
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