Mac Curtis Speedie was an American professional football player who was an end for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference and National Football League for seven years before joining the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Canada.
57 Facts About Mac Speedie
2.
Mac Speedie later served for two years as head coach of the American Football League's Denver Broncos.
3.
Mac Speedie grew up in Utah, where he overcame Perthes Disease to become a standout as a hurdler on his high school track team and a halfback on the football team.
4.
Mac Speedie attended the University of Utah, where he continued to excel at track and football before entering the military in 1942 during World War II.
5.
Mac Speedie spent four years in the service before joining the Browns in 1946, where he played as an end opposite quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley and fellow receiver Dante Lavelli.
6.
The Browns merged into the NFL in 1950 after the AAFC disbanded, and Mac Speedie continued to succeed as the team won another league championship.
7.
Mac Speedie played two full seasons in the WIFU and one game in a third season before leaving professional football.
8.
Mac Speedie was hired in 1960 as an end coach for the Houston Oilers in the American Football League.
9.
The Oilers won the AFL championship that year, but Mac Speedie left in 1961 after the head coach, former teammate Lou Rymkus, was fired.
10.
Mac Speedie then took a job as an assistant for the AFL's Denver Broncos and was promoted to head coach in 1964.
11.
Mac Speedie's two-year run with the team was unsuccessful, however.
12.
On January 15,2020, Mac Speedie was announced to have been selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2020.
13.
Mac Speedie was born in Odell, Illinois, but attended high school in Utah.
14.
Mac Speedie had to wear a brace for four years to correct the condition; one of his legs came out shorter than the other.
15.
Mac Speedie was the center on the school's basketball team and was named to a list of Salt Lake's best athletes as a halfback on the football team.
16.
Mac Speedie played football and basketball and was a top college hurdler in track.
17.
Mac Speedie entered the US Army after graduating in 1942.
18.
Mac Speedie was stationed at Fort Warren in Wyoming and played for the base's Broncos military team.
19.
Mac Speedie was drafted by the National Football League's Detroit Lions in the late rounds of the 1942 draft.
20.
Mac Speedie wanted to sign immediately, but Mandel preferred to wait until after the war.
21.
Mac Speedie was pursued by the Rockets after playing well against a team at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro from which many of the Rockets' players were drawn.
22.
Mac Speedie was spotted by Paul Brown, who had been the head coach of a military team at Great Lakes Naval Station that played against the Broncos.
23.
Mac Speedie was enthusiastic, energetic and fast, posing a challenge for defenders assigned to cover him.
24.
Mac Speedie had an unusual running style because of his bout with Perthes Disease, which Lavelli said "gave him an odd gait in which he could fake plays without even trying".
25.
Mac Speedie led the league in yards per catch, with 23.5, and scored seven touchdowns.
26.
Mac Speedie finished the season as the league leader in receptions and receiving yards as the Browns won another championship.
27.
Mac Speedie was named by news outlets as a first-team All-Pro.
28.
Mac Speedie studied how defensive backs moved their feet and tried to break into the open by exploiting mis-steps.
29.
Mac Speedie led the league in receiving and was named an All-Pro again.
30.
The 1949 season brought another championship and another All-Pro season for Mac Speedie, who led the league in receptions for the third year in a row.
31.
Mac Speedie had 228 receiving yards in a game against the Yankees, which remains a Browns record.
32.
Tom Landry, a Yankees cornerback who went on to coach the Dallas Cowboys, was assigned to cover Mac Speedie and called it "the most embarrassing athletic performance of my entire life".
33.
Mac Speedie was the AAFC's all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards, with 3,554.
34.
Mac Speedie had 548 receiving yards during the season and was selected for the NFL's first-ever Pro Bowl.
35.
Mac Speedie led the NFL in receiving in 1951 and was named a first-team All Pro, but he did not play in the championship game due to an injury.
36.
Mac Speedie was selected for the Pro Bowl for a second time in 1952.
37.
Mac Speedie had an independent streak that did not sit well with Brown, whose domineering coaching style grated against many of the men who played for him.
38.
Brown told Mac Speedie he did not think it was very funny, to which Mac Speedie responded that it was a nocturnal animal and was named after Paul Revere.
39.
Paul Brown refused to match the offer, and Mac Speedie, who was making $11,000 per year with the Browns, joined the Canadian team for the 1953 season.
40.
Brown then threatened to sue Mac Speedie for violating his existing contract with the team, saying the Browns had exercised an option to extend the deal after it expired in the summer of 1953.
41.
Mac Speedie later said that Brown "told me when I jumped leagues that he was going to get even with me".
42.
Mac Speedie had a league-leading seven touchdowns in 1953, and 576 receiving yards the following season.
43.
Mac Speedie was sent to the WIFU's BC Lions in 1955, but played only one game for the club.
44.
Mac Speedie hurt his left knee and was declared out for the season.
45.
Mac Speedie had suffered a hairline leg fracture and underwent surgery on torn ligaments in his knee and ankle.
46.
Mac Speedie was expected to scout for the Lions as he recovered.
47.
Mac Speedie averaged more than 800 receiving yards a season during his seven years in the AAFC and NFL, a mark that was not surpassed for 20 years after he left the game.
48.
Mac Speedie was named to the National Football League 1940s All-Decade Team and was selected by news outlets as a first-team All-Pro six times.
49.
Mac Speedie resurfaced in 1960, when he was named the end coach for the new American Football League's Houston Oilers under former teammate and Oilers head coach Lou Rymkus.
50.
Team owner Bud Adams urged Mac Speedie to stay on the staff, but Mac Speedie resigned out of loyalty to Rymkus.
51.
The AFL's Denver Broncos hired Mac Speedie the following year as an end coach.
52.
Two weeks later, Mac Speedie suspended placekicker Gene Mingo and defensive back Willie West for "conduct detrimental to the club", reportedly as a result of a late-night party at a hotel.
53.
Mac Speedie said the move was in the best interest of the club.
54.
Mac Speedie then accepted a scouting position with the organization and was based out of his home in Laguna Hills, California.
55.
Mac Speedie held the post until his retirement in 1982.
56.
Mac Speedie was placed on an old-timers' list of nominees for induction into the hall in the mid-1980s, but ultimately was passed over.
57.
On January 15,2020 Mac Speedie was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2020.