William Clarence Triplett (born May 9, 1940) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He played 10 years in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

(1962–63, 1965–66),

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

(1967), and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

(1968–72). He also played college football for Miami University Ohio.

Early years

Triplett was born in 1940 in either

Indianola, Mississippi Indianola is a U.S. city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta. The population was 10,683 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sunflower County. History In 1891, Minnie M. Cox was appointed postmaster of Indianola, b ...

, or

Shaw, Mississippi Shaw is a city in Bolivar and Sunflower counties, Mississippi, United States, located in the Mississippi Delta region. The name was derived from an old Indian tribe northeast of this region. The population was 1,952 at the 2010 census. History O ...

. His family moved to

Girard, Ohio Girard is a city in southern Trumbull County, Ohio, United States, along the Mahoning River. The population was 9,603 at the 2020 census. Located directly north of Youngstown, it is a suburb of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. History ...

, where he attended Girard High School. His older brother,

Mel Triplett Melvin C. Triplett (December 24, 1930 – July 26, 2002) was an American football running back in the National Football League who played for eight seasons for the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings. He played high school football at Girard Hi ...

, played in the NFL as a running back and defensive back from 1955 to 1962. Triplett attended

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

, where he played for the

Miami Redskins football Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at t ...

team under head coach

John Pont John Pont (November 13, 1927 – July 1, 2008) was an American football player and coach. He served as head coach at Miami University, Yale University, Northwestern University and Indiana University. Early life Pont was born on November 13, 1927 ...

. As a senior in 1961, Triplett gained 1,418 yards, was named the team's most valuable player, and was selected to the All-

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

team. He was also selected to play in the

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first st ...

and the

East–West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

Professional football

Triplett was selected by the

in the sixth round, 72nd overall pick, of the

1962 NFL Draft The 1962 National Football League draft was held on December 4, 1961 at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The Washington Redskins used the first overall pick of the draft to select running back Ernie Davis, then subsequently traded him ...

. He was also selected in the ninth round of the

1962 AFL Draft The 1962 American Football League draft was held on December 2, 1961. With the first overall pick, the Oakland Raiders selected quarterback Roman Gabriel. Order Boston Patriots draft picks (selected sixth) Buffalo Bills draft picks (selec ...

by 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 ...

. In May 1962, the Giants traded Triplett to the

in exchange for

Ralph Guglielmi Ralph Vincent Guglielmi (June 26, 1933 – January 23, 2017) was an American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles. He played hi ...

. As a rookie in 1962, Triplett was used principally as a kick return specialist and carried the ball only twice on offense. In 1963, Triplett's second year in the NFL, he gained 1,048 yards from scrimmage, 652 rushing and 396 receiving. He missed the 1964 season after contracting

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, and seeing his weight drop from 210 to 175 pounds. He returned to the Cardinals' lineup in 1965 and totaled 873 yards from scrimmage, 617 rushing and 256 receiving. After carrying the ball only eight times for the Cardinals in 1966, Triplett was traded to the

prior to the 1967 season. He was a backup for the Giants in 1967, gaining 171 rushing yards and 69 receiving yards. In August 1968, Triplett was traded by the Giants to the

with

Bill Swain Bill Swain (born February 22, 1941) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants and Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional Ameri ...

in exchange for

Bruce Maher Bruce David Maher (July 25, 1937 – July 6, 2018) was an American football safety in the National Football League for the Detroit Lions and New York Giants. He played college football at the University of Detroit Mercy and was drafted in the 1 ...

and two draft choices. Triplett spent five seasons with the Lions from 1968 to 1972. He appeared in 68 games for the Lions, 11 as a starter, and totaled 1,297 yards from scrimmage (969 rushing and 328 receiving).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Triplett, Bill Living people 1940 births American football running backs Detroit Lions players Miami RedHawks football players New York Giants players People from Girard, Ohio People from Indianola, Mississippi People from Shaw, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi St. Louis Cardinals (football) players