time2rock Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 Finally lost his battle to cancer. https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/leroy-keyes-eagles-1st-round-pick-1969-has-died 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weko Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 I remember watching the end of that season. We were in the lead for OJ, then we went out and won a game or two at the end and chose Keyes. I remember him being a DB. It was a depressing draft result, the first of many 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procus Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Keyes will not be remembered for his play on the field, but rather, for being the consolation prize for missing out on the rights to draft OJ Simpson. Eagles were well position to have the first overall pick that year having lost their first 11 games. Of course they won the next 2 out of 3, had a 2-12 season, and lost the rights to the first overall pick to the Bills who finished 1-12-1. The rest is history - the Bills drafted OJ Simpson, and the Birds drafted Leroy Keyes who had a very mediocre career. https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/leroy-keyes-eagles-1st-round-pick-1969-has-died Quote Leroy Keyes, the Eagles’ 1st-round pick in 1969 and a long-time fixture in the Philadelphia school system, died Thursday at his home in West Lafayette, Indiana. He was 74. According to the Associated Press, Keyes had been in poor health recently and had suffered a recurrence of cancer. Keyes worked as a desegregation specialist in the Philadelphia school system for 16 years after his playing days were over before spending 17 years in various coaching and administration capacities at Purdue, his alma mater. "This morning we lost a great friend and football brother, Leroy Keyes,” 1981 Purdue grad and long-time NFL quarterback Mark Herrmann tweeted. "He was a true Boilermaker legend, loved by all. We will miss his contagious smile and warm laugh. He joins a legion of Purdue fans and friends in heaven who can once again chant, ‘Give the ball to Leroy!’” It was at Purdue that Keyes worked alongside Calvin Williams, the Eagles’ 5th-round pick in 1990 out of Purdue and an Eagles receiver for seven years. Williams has worked for over a decade in athletic administration at Purdue. "When you talk about the greatest era of Purdue football, that's what he was,” Williams said in a story on the Eagles’ website. "He was tremendous, a two-way player. Leroy was a big man - he was 6-3. I can't imagine being a 6-3 defensive back back then and as a wide receiver having to go up against that type of athlete. He was a daunting figure on film and a big presence in life, just always jovial, always had good things to say about anybody and everybody. We lost a big piece of Purdue history this morning." Keyes rushed for over 2,000 yards and 29 touchdowns and caught 80 more passes for over 1,000 yards and seven more TDs at Purdue in the late 1960s. He finished third in the 1967 Heisman Trophy voting behind Gary Beban and O.J. Simpson and second in the 1968 balloting behind only Simpson. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990. The Eagles drafted Keyes as a running back, and he rushed for 361 yards and three touchdowns with 29 catches for 276 yards as a rookie. His 637 scrimmage yards were 6th-most among all rookie running backs in 1969 and remain the 9th-most ever by an Eagles rookie. But he tore his Achilles during the offseason and had just two carries in 1970. He converted to safety in the offseason and in 1971, his first year on defense, Keyes picked off six passes, tied for 9th-most in the NFL. He added two interceptions in 1972. "I’m just glad to be playing football,” Keyes told the Inquirer’s Gordon Forbes late in the 1971 season. "Offense is always there, but if I can make a name for myself on defense as a strong safety, I’ll be happy.” Keyes one of only three NFL players since 1969 with at least 500 scrimmage yards and five or more INTs. The others are Deion Sanders and one-time Eagles head coach Ray Rhodes, who began his career as a receiver and converted to cornerback. Keyes finished his NFL career in 1973 playing for Hank Stram’s Chiefs. Keyes is survived by his wife Monica and their children Raymond, Jacqueline, Courtland and Colin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cochis_Calhoun Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Keyes will always lead OJ in the metric of being survived by his wife. RIP 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortimer Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Guess he was never quite the same after the Achilles injury, but six INTs in one year is damn good for a converted running back. RIP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortimer Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 8 hours ago, weko said: I remember watching the end of that season. We were in the lead for OJ, then we went out and won a game or two at the end and chose Keyes. I remember him being a DB. It was a depressing draft result, the first of many I heard how the Eagles snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory. Kind of like the Jets did this year. You just know that if they did get OJ, the media would always bring him up, like snowballs at Santa Claus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greend Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Mods, please de-nut Procus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procus Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 3 minutes ago, greend said: Mods, please de-nut Procus Have a wonderful day. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranklinFldEBUpper Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Missing out on O.J. Simpson was unfortunate, but the bigger issue is that they could have picked the guy who went next. His name was Mean Joe Greene. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnB Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 I really don't quite grasp all the resentment for not getting OJ Simpson. Yes, he was a top running back, however, Buffalo still sucked with him leading the team in rushing, They went to the playoffs once. We sucked just a little bit less than the Bills all those years. I'm just not quite sure he would have had the impact here some people thought he would have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weko Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 45 minutes ago, JohnB said: I really don't quite grasp all the resentment for not getting OJ Simpson. Yes, he was a top running back, however, Buffalo still sucked with him leading the team in rushing, They went to the playoffs once. We sucked just a little bit less than the Bills all those years. I'm just not quite sure he would have had the impact here some people thought he would have. Those teams were God awful. Being a fan and having to endure how bad the franchise was at the time, was weekly misery. Bad everything. OJ was the hope and it was dashed by a failure to tank. No surprise. Those teams couldn't coordinate anything. If Howie continues to take guys from the Pac 12, you will have the chance to understand what we experienced those years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranklinFldEBUpper Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 I don't think any of us old timers are saying that OJ would have made the Eagles a playoff team. Things were too screwed up from top to bottom for that to happen. But he would have been a great player and it would have at least provided something enjoyable to watch. Instead, Keyes was a Michael Haddix level running back. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bwestbrook36 Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 The reason Santa got pelted with snow balls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosierdaddy Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 23 hours ago, weko said: I remember watching the end of that season. We were in the lead for OJ, then we went out and won a game or two at the end and chose Keyes. I remember him being a DB. It was a depressing draft result, the first of many Was Howie drafting for us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20dawk4life Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 F Cancer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iggle_nj Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 On 4/16/2021 at 9:17 PM, hoosierdaddy said: Was Howie drafting for us? Those drafts were like 25 rounds and it sure wasn't the event that it has become today. Lucky if the Inquierer had the entire Eagles draft listed in the next days paper back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranklinFldEBUpper Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 5 hours ago, Iggle_nj said: Those drafts were like 25 rounds and it sure wasn't the event that it has become today. Lucky if the Inquierer had the entire Eagles draft listed in the next days paper back then. Yeah. Those were the days where you'd have to tune in to KYW at quarter after and quarter of each hour, just hoping to hear who the Eagles had drafted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrPhilly Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 On 4/16/2021 at 7:30 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said: I don't think any of us old timers are saying that OJ would have made the Eagles a playoff team. Things were too screwed up from top to bottom for that to happen. But he would have been a great player and it would have at least provided something enjoyable to watch. Instead, Keyes was a Michael Haddix level running back. Exactly! We had some very lean years until Roman and then DickV came to town. OJ would have provided some excitement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now