Leonard Everett "Lenny" Lyles (January 26, 1936 – November 20, 2011) was a professional American football cornerback who played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He started in Super Bowl III for the Baltimore Colts.[1]
 Lyles in 1961 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Cornerback Return specialist Halfback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | January 26, 1936 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died: | November 20, 2011 (aged 75) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 202 lb (92 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| College: | Louisville | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1958 / round: 1 / pick: 11 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||||||
Biography
editLenny Lyles was born January 26, 1936, in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from Louisville's Central Colored High School (Central High School) before Cassius Clay.[2]
The 6–2, 202-pound Lyles was recruited by the University of Louisville in 1954, when he broke the school's color barrier for scholarship athletes. Lyles was blessed with sprinters' speed, timed a 9.5 seconds in the 100-yard dash.[3]
Lyles remains Louisville's all-time scoring leader for a non-kicker with 300 points.
After a successful collegiate career, where Lyles was known for his return skills, he was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the first round of the 1958 NFL draft. As a rookie he made his mark with the World Champion Colts as a kickoff returner, racking up touchdown returns of 103 yards against the Chicago Bears and 101 yards against the Washington Redskins.[3]
After just one year with the Colts, on September 18, 1959, Lyles' contract was sold to the San Francisco 49ers ahead of the 1959 season.[4] San Francisco would convert him from an offensive halfback to a defensive halfback (cornerback) in 1960.[5]
Lyles would spend two years in the red-and-gold before his contract was once again sold back to the Colts in 1961.[4] He would no longer return kickoffs after the 1961 season, playing exclusively as a defensive back after that time.[5]
He would remain in Baltimore until the end of his career in 1969, highlighted by another NFL Championship in 1968 – although that team would ultimate lose to the AFL Champion New York Jets in Super Bowl III.
Lyles finished his professional career with 2,161 return yards and averaged 26.7 yards per return.
Lyles spent 27 years as an executive with Brown & Williamson in Louisville.
References
edit- ^ "Former University of Louisville star and businessman Lenny Lyles dies | The Courier-Journal". courier-journal.com. November 21, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
- ^ Andrew Washburn, "Central High School," Explore KY History, explorekyhistory.ky.gov/
- ^ a b Dan McGuire (ed.), The San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League Present the Shotgun Offense: Press, Radio, Television Information for 1961. San Francisco, CA: San Francisco 49ers Football Club, 1961; p. 25.
- ^ a b John Duxbury and Larry Shainman (eds.), Football Register, 1969. St. Louis: The Sporting News, 1969; p. 193.
- ^ a b "Lenny Lyles Overview," Pro Football Reference, www.pro-football-reference.com