Robert R. "Bobby" Marlow (February 8, 1930 – June 5, 1985) was an American and Canadian football

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 ...

who played for the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

and the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

's (CFL) Saskatchewan Roughriders. Born on February 8, 1930 in

Athens, Alabama Athens is a city in and the county seat of Limestone County, Alabama, Limestone County, in the U.S. state of Alabama; it is included in the Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 c ...

, Marlow moved to

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

at an early age. He played high school football at Troy High School before playing college football for the University of Alabama from 1950 to 1952. In 1950, Marlow's first season with the Crimson Tide, he had 118 rushing attempts, gaining 882 yards for an average of 7.5 per carry, and scored 9 touchdowns. His number of touchdowns doubled to 12 in 1951, as he rushed for 728 yards in 114 carries. In that year's

Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide, both charter members of the Southeastern Conferenc ...

against

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, Marlow had 233 rushing yards, breaking the team record; his mark was not bested until 1987. In 1952, he was named to the

All-America Team The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

, after running for 950 yards in 176 attempts and scoring 10 touchdowns. It was the third consecutive season that he led Alabama in rushing yards. In Marlow's Crimson Tide career, the team had a win–loss record of 24–10 and won the

1953 Orange Bowl The 1953 Orange Bowl, part of the 1952 bowl game season, took place on January 1, 1953, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. The competing teams were the Alabama Crimson Tide, representing the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Syracuse Oran ...

. At the end of his college career, Marlow had a school-record 2,560 rushing yards. The record lasted until 1971. The

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. ...

selected Marlow with the eighth overall pick in the first round of the

1953 NFL Draft The 1953 National Football League Draft was held on January 22, 1953, at Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. Selections made by the folded Dallas Texans were assigned to the new Baltimore Colts. This was the seventh year that the first ove ...

. However, he did not play in the NFL, and instead signed to play in the CFL. The Roughriders ultimately signed Marlow. In his career with the Roughriders, he scored 34

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s and had 4,291 rushing yards in 833 attempts. Marlow spent eight seasons in Canada, and later lived in

Elkmont, Alabama Elkmont is a town in Limestone County, Alabama, Limestone County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 434, down from its record high of 4 ...

and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas. In 1985, Marlow suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 55. Marlow was named a member of the CFL's All Star All-Time Team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marlow, Bobby 1930 births 1985 deaths Alabama Crimson Tide football players American football running backs Canadian football running backs People from Athens, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama Saskatchewan Roughriders players

See also

References