Vaughn Samuel "Buddy" Alliston Jr. (December 14, 1933 – October 1, 2021) was a professional

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 ...

player who played the positions of

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

before being drafted by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

of 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) in the 15th round of the 1956 NFL Draft. Alliston first played professionally in 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 ...

(CFL) with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

. In 1956, he was the runner-up for the

CFL's Most Outstanding Lineman Award The Most Outstanding Lineman Award was an award annually given to the best defensive player or offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League from the year 1955 to 1973. By the 1974 season, the league decided to make two separate awards for bo ...

. After years of military service, he played 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) for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

Early career

Alliston played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

at Florence High School as a fullback. He also contributed on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

, blocking 21 punts over the course of his high school career. In 1951, he blocked five punts in a single game. In college, he played for the

Ole Miss Rebels The Ole Miss Rebels are the 18 men's and women's intercollegiate athletic teams that are funded by and represent the University of Mississippi, located in Oxford. The first was the football team, which began play in 1893. Originally known as th ...

from 1952 to 1955. As a rookie in 1952, Alliston played as a guard on Ole Miss' rookie "B team". He went on to play as both a left and right guard for the Rebels in the following seasons. In 1954, Alliston became known as a quick player who was able to easily tackle opponents on the defensive side of the ball. By his senior season, Ole Miss head coach

Johnny Vaught John Howard Vaught (May 6, 1909 – February 3, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) from 1947 to 1970 and aga ...

considered Alliston to be a contender for All-American honors and the ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

'' expected him to be one of "the best guards of 1955". The ''Associated Press'' went on to recognize Alliston several times throughout the season on their "SEC checklist of stars today". At the conclusion of the season, Alliston received a variety of honors, including second-team All- SEC and an honorable mention on the All-American team. He was also selected as an honorable mention for both best offensive and best defensive guard in his conference among a poll of SEC coaches. He was voted " Colonel Rebel" by the Ole Miss student body in December 1955. The Ole Miss Rebels defeated the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The sc ...

14–13 in the 1956 Cotton Bowl Classic, with Alliston being named the best lineman of the game.

Professional career

The

of the National Football League selected Alliston in the 15th round of the 1956 NFL Draft with the 176th overall pick, but he didn't play for the Packers. Instead, Alliston played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League in all sixteen regular season games during their 1956 season, recording two interceptions and a fumble recovery. He was named a

Western Interprovincial Football Union The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the West Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagu ...

all-star at the offensive guard position during his rookie season. Alliston was also named a runner-up for the

. After his rookie season in the CFL, he took a break from professional football to join the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. While with the Air Force, he was a player on the

Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The ...

team which won the 1958 Shrimp Bowl against the

Brooke Army Medical Center Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) is the United States Army's premier medical institution. Located on Fort Sam Houston, BAMC, a 425-bed Academic Medical Center, is the Department of Defense's largest facility and only Level 1 Trauma Center. BAMC ...

. Alliston rejoined the Blue Bombers in 1959 but played in only one game. In 1960, Alliston initially joined the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

in their training camp before moving to the Denver Broncos. Alliston played in eleven regular season games for the Broncos as a linebacker. He retired after the 1960 season. Alliston died on October 1, 2021, at the age of 87.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alliston, Buddy 1933 births 2021 deaths American football fullbacks American football guards American football linebackers American players of Canadian football Canadian football guards Denver Broncos (AFL) players Oakland Raiders players Ole Miss Rebels football players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Players of American football from Jackson, Mississippi Players of Canadian football from Jackson, Mississippi