CSNbbs

Just looked up Long's NFL stats and they show he returned 6 kicks in 1973 for 86 yards! If that is correct that's a side of him I never heard about.

I played slow pitch softball out at the Rec Center back in the early 80's and one of the teams we played against had a catcher that was built like a tank with long muscular arms. Played against them for about 3-4 years, and in the final year - I heard somebody mention his name - It was Mel Long. I couldn't believe it. He wasn't particularly big, but he looked like he could have thrown any offensive lineman out of the way. I played in high school with a guy that become all Big Ten as a center at Illinois. He was 6'3 and 235 in high school - and was as fast as me in the sprints (not saying a whole lot there). It just seemed that Long would have had no trouble shucking him off to make a tackle with the build he had. The center (Phil McDonald) didn't catch on in the NFL after being drafted by the Eagles.

In case you never saw Mel's appearance on the Bob Hope football All-American special he used to do every year around Christmas. Need to go to the end to see that UT All-american (around the 1:55 mark)

https://youtu.be/Le0g8Zmzn3o

(02-05-2016 10:35 AM)MotoRocket Wrote: [ -> ]In case you never saw Mel's appearance on the Bob Hope football All-American special he used to do every year around Christmas. Need to go to the end to see that UT All-american (around the 1:55 mark)

https://youtu.be/Le0g8Zmzn3o

So Rossford's Eric Davis is a walk-on or is he a greyshirt? They showed him on the board at the signing day show? I didn't think they showed walk-ons for that.

(02-05-2016 08:03 PM)rocketpaul Wrote: [ -> ]

(02-05-2016 10:35 AM)MotoRocket Wrote: [ -> ]In case you never saw Mel's appearance on the Bob Hope football All-American special he used to do every year around Christmas. Need to go to the end to see that UT All-american (around the 1:55 mark)

https://youtu.be/Le0g8Zmzn3o

So Rossford's Eric Davis is a walk-on or is he a greyshirt? They showed him on the board at the signing day show? I didn't think they showed walk-ons for that.

For walk-ons they can't.

They can't show walk-on's, but they can show preferred walk-on's. That is because even though they do not sign an official NLI, they do sign something that goes on file at the MAC office. Beckman used to show the preferred walk-on's too.

When I talked to Erik Davis for the site I am involved with, he specifically told me he was offered a preferred walk-on position.

(02-07-2016 09:56 AM)BrianNowicki Wrote: [ -> ]They can't show walk-on's, but they can show preferred walk-on's. That is because even though they do not sign an official NLI, they do sign something that goes on file at the MAC office. Beckman used to show the preferred walk-on's too.

When I talked to Erik Davis for the site I am involved with, he specifically told me he was offered a preferred walk-on position.

Thanks Brian!!!

(02-05-2016 08:41 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote: [ -> ]Just looked up Long's NFL stats and they show he returned 6 kicks in 1973 for 86 yards! If that is correct that's a side of him I never heard about.

As a life long Browns fan I can shed some light on this statistic. Mel played on the KO return team and was part of the blocking wedge. In the 73 and 74 seasons we had a young man named Greg Pruitt who was at the time a very good and feared return man. In 73 he averaged 28 yards per return and in 74 27 yards. To avoid him teams kicked short and Mel was there to scoop it up. Greg went on to have a very successful career as a running back with the Browns and had 3 1,000 yard rushing seasons.

(02-07-2016 02:26 PM)RocketElvis Wrote: [ -> ]

(02-05-2016 08:41 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote: [ -> ]Just looked up Long's NFL stats and they show he returned 6 kicks in 1973 for 86 yards! If that is correct that's a side of him I never heard about.

As a life long Browns fan I can shed some light on this statistic. Mel played on the KO return team and was part of the blocking wedge. In the 73 and 74 seasons we had a young man named Greg Pruitt who was at the time a very good and feared return man. In 73 he averaged 28 yards per return and in 74 27 yards. To avoid him teams kicked short and Mel was there to scoop it up. Greg went on to have a very successful career as a running back with the Browns and had 3 1,000 yard rushing seasons.

I figured he was a short man in the formation. Still, 14 per return isn't bad.