24 Facts About Bobby Layne

Robert Lawrence Layne was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for 15 seasons in the National Football League.

Bobby Layne played college football for the Texas Longhorns before being selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the third overall pick of the 1948 NFL draft and traded to the Chicago Bears.

Bobby Layne played one season with the Bears, and then with the New York Bulldogs in 1949, the Detroit Lions from 1950 to 1958, and the Steelers from 1958 to 1962.

Bobby Layne was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1968.

The Hamptons eventually adopted Bobby Layne and moved to Highland Park, Texas, which was then a suburb just north of Dallas.

Bobby Layne attended Highland Park High School in University Park.

One of the most successful quarterbacks ever to play for Texas, Bobby Layne was selected to four straight All-Southwest Conference teams from 1944 to 1947, and was a consensus All-American in his senior year.

Bobby Layne missed the first six games of the season, and was replaced by Jack Halfpenny.

Bobby Layne set several NCAA and Cotton Bowl records that have lasted into the 21st century.

Bobby Layne led the Southwest Conference in total offense, total passing, and punting average.

The change was a success, as Bobby Layne led the Southwest Conference in passing yards, made the All-Conference and All-American teams, and finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting to John Lujack of Notre Dame.

Bobby Layne finished 6th in Heismann voting that season as well.

Bobby Layne finished his Texas career with a school-record 3,145 passing yards on 210 completions and 400 attempts and 28 wins.

Bobby Layne was one of the first inductees into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame and made the Cotton Bowl's All-Decade team for the 1940s.

Bobby Layne was one of the best pitchers to ever play at Texas.

Bobby Layne made the All-Southwest Conference team all four years he played, and played on teams that won all three Conference Championships available to them.

Bobby Layne did not want to play for the Steelers, the last team in the NFL to use the single-wing formation, so his rights were quickly traded to the Chicago Bears.

Bobby Layne was offered $77,000 to play for the Colts, but George Halas, who attended the Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama and sat with Cherry and Layne after the game, "sweet talked" him into signing with the Bears.

Bobby Layne promised a slow rise to fame in the "big leagues" with a no-trade understanding.

Bobby Layne demanded a clause in the contract that Layne could never be sold or traded to the Cardinals.

Bobby Layne compared one season with the soon-to-be-defunct New York Bulldogs as worth five seasons with any other NFL team.

In 1952, Bobby Layne led the Lions to their first NFL Championship in 17 years, and then did so again in 1953 for back-to-back league titles.

In 1957, the season of the Lions' most recent NFL championship, Bobby Layne broke his leg in three places in a pileup during the 11th game of the 12-game season.

Bobby Layne left the game as one of the last players to play without a face mask and was credited with creating the two-minute drill.