Top 100 NFL Running Backs - #45: Clem Daniels

Clem Daniels

Teams

Dallas Texans (1960)

Oakland Raiders (1961-1967)

San Francisco 49ers (1968)

Playoffs

Appearances - 1 (1967)

Conf Champ Games - 1 (1967)

Super Bowls - 1 (1967)

Championships - 0

Awards and Honors

All-Pro First Team - 2 (1963,1966)

Pro Bowl - 4 (1963,1964,1965,1966)

All-Time Ranks

Yards per Rush - #49

Yards per Touch - #68

Yards per Reception - #91

League Leads

Rushing Yards (#1-1963, #2-1966, #3-1964,1965, #4-1962, #7-1967)

Rushing Touchdowns (#2-1966, #3-1962, #5-1965, #7-1967)

Yards per Rush (#3-1963, #4-1964, #6-1962,1965,1967, #9-1966)

Rushing Yards per Game (#1-1963, #2-1966, #3-1964,1965, #4-1962,1967)

Receiving Touchdowns (#6-1965)

Yards per Reception (#1-1963, #8-1965, #10-1966)

Total Touchdowns (#3-1965, #5-1966, #6-1962, #7-1964, #10-1963)

Scrimmage Yards (#1-1963, #2-1964,1965,1966, #5-1962)

Yards per Touch (#2-1963,1964, #3-1966, #5-1965,1967, #6-1962)

After leading Prairie View to the NAIA national championship in 1959, Clem Daniels went undrafted in both the AFL and NFL Drafts in 1960, eventually signing as a free agent with the Dallas Texans.

Daniels played only one year with Dallas, but hardly played due to Abner Haynes being entrenched as the starter. He ended the season with negative 2 yards, and was traded to the Oakland Raiders after his rookie year ended.

It took a little over a year for him to really catch on in Oakland, but he finally became the starter midway through the 1962 season, and by 1963, he was a star. He led the league that year with 1099 rushing yards and 1784 scrimmage yards, and he was also best in the league at yards per reception with 22.8, which is a huge number for a running back. He was voted to the All-Pro First Team that year and the Pro Bowl, which would become routine for him.

Over the next 3 seasons with the Raiders, Daniels made 3 straight Pro Bowls, gained over 800 yards on the ground, and 500 yards through the air each season, but the Raiders never broke through to reach the playoffs during that time. He broke his leg 9 games into the 1967 season, and that was the year when they Raiders won the AFL and went to the Super Bowl, where they fell to the Green Bay Packers with Daniels out with the injury.

He was released and moved across the bay to join the San Francisco 49ers for the 1968 season, but gained only 37 yards before calling it a career. He retired as the AFL's all-time leading rusher, and he was also a great receiver out of the backfield, and he is still in the top 100 in yards per reception, a rarity for a running back. His entire career came before the leagues merged, but he is still one of the best to have ever played the game.

Top 100 NFL Running Backs - #50: Abner Haynes

Abner Haynes

Teams

Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs (1960-1964)

Denver Broncos (1965-1966)

Miami Dolphins (1967)

New York Jets (1967)

Playoffs

Appearances - 1 (1962)

Conf Champ Games - 1 (1962)

Champ Games - 1 (1962)

Championships - 1 (1962)

Awards and Honors

Player of the Year - 1 (1960)

Rookie of the Year - 1960

All-Pro First Team - 2 (1960,1962)

All-Pro Second Team - 1 (1964)

Pro Bowl - 3 (1961,1962,1964)

All-Time Ranks

Yards per Rush - #49

Yards per Touch - #70

League Leads

Rushing Yards (#1-1960, #2-1962, #3-1961, #5-1964)

Rushing Touchdowns (#1-1960,1961,1962, #7-1963,1964)

Yards per Rush (#1-1961, #2-1960, #3-1964, #7-1962, #10-1963)

Rushing Yards per Game (#1-1960, #2-1962, #3-1961, #5-1964)

Receptions (#5-1960)

Receiving Touchdowns (#7-1962)

Total Touchdowns (#1-1962, #2-1960, #3-1961, #7-1964)

Scrimmage Yards (#1-1962, #2-1960, #3-1961, #7-1964)

Yards per Touch (#2-1964, #3-1961,1962, #4-1963, #5-1960)

After becoming one of the first players to integrate college football at the University of North Texas and gaining 1864 rushing yards over 3 seasons, Abner Haynes was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 5th round of the 1960 NFL Draft, and in the initial AFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders, which did not have rounds, just names drawn from a hat. After the Raiders declined to sign him, he signed with his local Dallas Texans of the AFL.

In the AFL's first season, Haynes led the league in rushing yards and touchdowns, finishing with 875 yards and 9 touchdowns. He also had 576 yards receiving, which gave him 1451 scrimmage yards, and he was named both Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year in the AFL.

In his second season, he led the league in touchdowns again, and this time also led the league with 4.7 yards per carry. He topped both of those seasons in 1962, when he reached 1049 rushing yards, led the league with 13 touchdowns, his third straight season with the most in the league. He also led the league with 1622 scrimmage yards and 19 total touchdowns, making the All-Pro First Team for the second time.

Dallas reached the AFL title game that season, where they faced the Houston Oilers, winning 20-17 in double overtime, with Haynes scoring both of the Texans' touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving. He gained 71 yards in the game and went home a champion in the only playoff appearance of his career.

The Dallas Texans moved after that season, relocating to Kansas City and renaming themselves the Chiefs, and he remained with the team for 2 more seasons. His first season as a Chief was a bit disappointing, but he bounced back in 1964, gaining 1259 scrimmage yards and being named to the AFL All-Star Game. 

Because he participated in a boycott of that season's All-Star Game in New Orleans due to mistreatment of black players in the city, the Chiefs traded him to the Denver Broncos after the season. He played two seasons with the Broncos, only gaining 470 rushing yards during that time, then moved on to play partial seasons with the Dolphins and Jets before retiring after his 8th season.

Haynes' career fell off kind of quickly after a hot start, but he was definitely one of the top rushers in the game in each of his first 3 seasons, and was a big reason for his team's championship in 1962. He was nearly always among the league leaders in yards per carry, and still ranks among the top 50 of all time in that category, and his play in those early days of the AFL made him one of the greatest of all time.

Top 50 NFL Quarterbacks: #30 - Len Dawson

Len Dawson

Len Dawson was the #5 overall draft pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1957, but he was unable to take over the starting job in 3 seasons in Pittsburgh, so they traded him to Cleveland, where he faced the same problem. In his first 5 seasons in the league, he threw a total of 45 passes, only two for touchdowns, definitely not the kind of start you'd expect from a first-round pick.

He caught his lucky break in 1962 when he signed on with the Dallas Texans of the AFL. In his first season, he led the league in touchdown passes (29) and completion percentage (61.0), and he led them to the best record in the Western Division, at 11-3. Although he only threw for 88 yards in the title game, the Texans were able to defeat Houston due to George Blanda's 5 interceptions.

The team moved to Kansas City the following season, and while the Chiefs failed to make the playoffs in their first three seasons, Dawson still led the league twice each in touchdowns and completion percentage. In 1966, he led them back to the playoffs when he led the league in both categories again, and they defeated Buffalo behind 227 yards and 2 touchdowns from Dawson. That earned them the right to play in the first-ever Super Bowl, which they lost 35-10 to Green Bay.

Three years later was one of the most memorable of his career. He missed 5 games with a severe knee injury, but came back in time to lead the Chiefs back to the playoffs, where they pulled off 3 straight upsets to become Super Bowl champions. He was named the MVP of the Super Bowl after he threw the game's only passing touchdown late in the 4th quarter to put the game away. It was also the second straight time an AFL team won the Super Bowl, and validated the AFL as equal with the NFL in the final game before the merger between the two leagues.

Dawson played another 6 seasons in Kansas City, and although he only saw the playoffs once more, he did enough in his first 8 years as a Chief to earn this spot on the list. He led the AFL in touchdowns 4 times, completion percentage 6 times, won 3 AFL titles and a Super Bowl as the MVP. He wasn't a big yardage guy, but he was accurate and a winner, and he belongs in the top 30.