30 Facts About Creighton Miller

Creighton Miller was an American football player and attorney.

Creighton Miller was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 1976.

Creighton Miller was a star halfback for a Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team that won the national championship in 1943.

Creighton Miller was named an All-American that year, finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting and led the nation in rushing yards, with 911.

Creighton Miller was drafted by the Brooklyn Tigers of the NFL but did not play professionally because of high blood pressure.

Creighton Miller coached briefly at Notre Dame and as an assistant in 1946 for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference before becoming a lawyer practicing in Cleveland.

Creighton Miller stayed in the position until 1968, the same year the union was recognized by the NFL.

Creighton Miller continued to practice law in Cleveland, specializing in maritime and asbestos litigation, until his death in 2002.

Creighton Miller was born in Cleveland, Ohio, into a well storied family of athletes.

Creighton Miller attended DuPont High School outside Wilmington, Delaware, and was the seventh member of his family to play football at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

Harry Creighton Miller, his father, was an All-American halfback at the school and the captain of the Fighting Irish football team in 1908.

One of his uncles, Don Creighton Miller, was part of the dominant 1924 Notre Dame backfield nicknamed the Four Horsemen.

Creighton Miller was a standout halfback at Notre Dame under head coach Frank Leahy starting in 1941.

Creighton Miller rushed for 151 yards in a 1942 game against Northwestern University, a single-game school record that stood until 1974.

Creighton Miller was named a consensus All-American and was chosen to play in the College All-Star Game, a now-defunct annual matchup between the champions of the National Football League and a squad of the best college players from around the country.

Creighton Miller was selected by the NFL's Brooklyn Tigers with the third pick in the 1944 NFL draft.

Creighton Miller stayed at Notre Dame in 1944 to coach and study law.

Creighton Miller was the team's first hire, and joined the Browns on August 1,1946.

Creighton Miller returned to Yale Law School at the end of the year, after the Browns won the AAFC championship.

Creighton Miller coached with the Browns for one year, drawing a $5,200 salary that helped pay for law school.

In 1954, Browns end Dante Lavelli and guard Abe Gibron approached Creighton Miller about forming a union to represent players in the NFL, to which the Browns had moved in 1950.

Creighton Miller threatened to sue the league under antitrust laws in 1957 unless owners recognized the union.

Creighton Miller testified before the US Congress in NFL antitrust hearings that players were "mousetrapped" by the owners into disadvantageous contracts.

Creighton Miller earned $1,000 a year to advocate for the union, a salary some players said in 1960 was unjustified because of his tense relations with NFL owners and failure to get the union recognized.

In 1967, retired Browns defensive back Bernie Parrish said Creighton Miller did not do enough to meet the players' demands and Parrish tried to form his own union.

Creighton Miller served as the NFLPA's lawyer until 1968, when he resigned to focus on representing individual players as an agent negotiating contracts.

Later in his career, Creighton Miller was a maritime law and asbestos law specialist, and represented Cleveland native George Steinbrenner's American Shipbuilding Company in the 1960s.

An avid golfer, Creighton Miller won the Shaker Country Club championship seven times.

Creighton Miller was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 1976.

Creighton Miller was found dead of a heart attack in 2002 after he failed to report to his law offices.