Bill Mathis (December 10, 1938 – October 20, 2020) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a running back for the New York Titans/Jets in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL). He played

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for the Clemson Tigers. He started his professional career with the Titans, and played his entire career with the AFL's New York franchise. One of four Titans who remained with the New York Jets to play in and win a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

, Mathis led the AFL in carries in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

and was selected by his peers to the

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1961 AFL All-League team. He was an AFL Eastern Division All-Star in 1961 and 1963. Mathis had a collarbone broken in the third game of 1961, against the

Boston Patriots Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

. He played in the next game, and in fact in all the remaining games of the season. That persistence allowed him to gain a roster spot year after year, and end his career in 1969 after winning Super Bowl III. He is one of twenty players who were in the AFL for its entire ten-year existence, and seven players who played their entire AFL careers for one franchise. He was inducted into the Clemson University Hall of Fame, South Carolina Hall of Fame, and the Georgia Hall of Fame. After retiring from football, Mathis began a career on

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, starting at the firm Cogan, Berlind, Weill & Levitt.Can Ex-Athletes Make it on Wall Street
New York Magazine, January 8, 1973

References

External links

Mathis' jersey from his 1961 injury
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathis, Bill 1938 births 2020 deaths People from Greenville, Georgia People from Manchester, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Sportspeople from Rocky Mount, North Carolina Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Clemson Tigers football players New York Titans (AFL) players New York Jets players American Football League players American Football League All-Star players American Football League All-League players Track and field athletes from Georgia (U.S. state) USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners

See also

References

External links