Byron Gilbert Bradfute (December 12, 1937 – October 30, 2020) was an American

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 ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. 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 Southern Mississippi and

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Churches of Christ, Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Sout ...

Early years

Bradfute attended A. C. Jones High School, where he was a two-time All-district selection at tackle. Bradfute accepted a scholarship from

. As a junior, he was thrown out of the team for drinking beer. Bradfute finished his senior season at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Professional career

Bradfute was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the

1960 AFL Draft The 1960 American Football League draft was held on November 23–24, 1959, in Minneapolis, shortly after the organization of the league, and lasted 33 rounds. An additional draft of 20 rounds was held by the AFL on December 2. Teams were requ ...

, but instead chose to sign with the

NFL 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 major ...

's Dallas Cowboys as a free agent. Bradfute was a reserve

and was a part of the franchise's inaugural season. The next year, he played in five games after suffering an injury. On July 29,

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

, Bradfute announced his retirement.

Death

Bradfute died from COVID-19 on October 30, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradfute, Byron 1937 births 2020 deaths People from Beeville, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football offensive tackles Abilene Christian Wildcats football players Southern Miss Golden Eagles football players Dallas Cowboys players Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas