Buford Needham "Butch" Allison (October 29, 1944 – April 2, 2010) was a professional

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

who played for the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

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) and the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

of 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). 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 Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

. Allison was drafted in both the seventh round of the

1966 AFL Draft The 1966 American Football League draft was held on Saturday, November 27, 1965. The AFL added the Miami Dolphins as an expansion team in 1966 to bring its total to nine franchises for its seventh season. The Dolphins were awarded the first overa ...

by 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 ...

and the second round of the

1966 NFL Draft The 1966 National Football League draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 27, 1965. The expansion Atlanta Falcons were awarded the first pick in each round as well as the final pick in each of the first five rou ...

by the Baltimore Colts, who he played the 1966 NFL season with. He played for both the New Orleans Saints and Edmonton Eskimos in 1967.

Early career

Allison 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 Parkview High School as a

right tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, ...

. As a senior in 1961, he was selected to the All-

Ozark The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portio ...

county team and designated as an All-American. Allison signed to play for the

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the Fighting Tigers of Columbia who, in 1864, protected Columbia fro ...

in college, and he went on to be named on the All- Big Eight conference team three years in a row. In his junior year, Allison was also named a second-team All-American. He received an honorable mention for the All-America team in 1965. The Tigers won the

1966 Sugar Bowl The 1966 Sugar Bowl was the 32nd edition of the college football bowl game, played at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Saturday, January 1. As a part of the 1965–66 bowl game season, it matched the sixth-ranked Missouri Tigers of t ...

against the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

during Allison's senior year.

Professional career

Allison was drafted in both the National Football League and 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. ...

in 1966. The Baltimore Colts of the National Football League selected Allison in the second round of the

with the 31st overall pick. The

of the American Football League also selected Allison in the seventh round of the

with the 57th overall pick. Allison signed with the Colts and played for the team through the preseason. He was released by the Colts in September 1966, remaining with the team as a practice squad player. Before the 1967 season, the Colts traded Allison to the New Orleans Saints as part of a deal that also sent quarterback

Gary Cuozzo Gary Samuel Cuozzo (born April 26, 1941) is a former professional American football player. High school career Cuozzo played high school football at Glen Ridge High School in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. Football career An undrafted quarterback from ...

to the Saints in exchange for a 1967 first round pick (#1-

Bubba Smith Charles Aaron Smith (February 28, 1945 – August 3, 2011), commonly known as Bubba Smith, was an American football defensive end and actor. He first came into prominence at Michigan State University, where he twice earned All-American hon ...

), a 1967 third round pick (#54- Norman Davis), a 1969 seventh round pick (#163-Gary Fleming) and center

Bill Curry William Alexander Curry (born October 21, 1942) is a retired American football coach and former player. Most recently, Curry was the head coach at Georgia State University, which began competing in college football in 2010. Previously, Curry s ...

. He played one regular season game for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League in 1967.

Personal life

Allison was the brother of Wilson Allison, another former professional football player. Wilson Allison played college football at

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

and was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the

1961 NFL draft The 1961 National Football League draft took place at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on December 27–28, 1960. The league would later hold an expansion draft for the Minnesota Vikings expansion franchise. This draft was also the first regula ...

. He later signed with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

of the

. Later in life, Butch Allison made a career in sports printing. Along with his second wife, Mary Ann (née Azar), he also managed the West End Galleries and the Clarksville Antique Mall.

Death

Allison died on April 2, 2010 in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allison, Butch 1944 births 2010 deaths Players of American football from Fort Worth, Texas American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Missouri Tigers football players Baltimore Colts players New Orleans Saints players American players of Canadian football Canadian football offensive linemen Edmonton Elks players