Calvin Harrell (September 7, 1949 – 1994) was a college

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 ...

and professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

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 ...

, ranking among the top players in

Arkansas State Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage l ...

history. During Harrell's college career with the Indians (now renamed Red Wolves), the team under head coach

Bennie Ellender Bennie Ellender Jr. (March 2, 1925 – December 22, 2011) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Arkansas State University from 1963 to 1970 and at Tulane University from 1971 to 1975, compiling a career ...

played in three

Pecan Bowl The Pecan Bowl was the name of some December college football bowl games played in two different eras. In 1946 and 1947, the game was contested between historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). From 1964 through 1970, the game was a reg ...

s, one of the regional bowls that comprised the post season for the College Division of the

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, and won the national small college championship with an undefeated season in 1970.

College career

At 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighing 222 pounds, Harrell was a tough running back for a rush oriented ASU offense. He ran for 2.935 yards in four seasons to rank 5th among the top rushers in team history and his career 18 100-yard games still ranks second all-time. His 1970 rushing performance against

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...

with 252 yards is the second best single game yardage total in team history. Harrell was a major force in the last two Pecan Bowls for the Indians, rushing for 160 and a touchdown in 1969 when ASU beat

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. Hi ...

29-21. He ran for 135 yards in the 1970 Pecan Bowl, a 38 to 21 win over

Central Missouri State University The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri. In 2019, enrollment was 11,229 students from 49 states and 59 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, including 10 pre-profes ...

that gave the Indians the number one ranking and the championship. Harrell was selected an All-America College Division by the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

in 1970 and 1971, as well as an Associated Press Second Team All-America in both years. Following his college career, he played in the 1971

North–South Shrine Game The North–South Shrine Game was an annual postseason college football all-star game played each December from 1948 to 1973 in Miami, and a final time in 1976 in Pontiac, Michigan. The game was sponsored by the fraternal group Shriners Interna ...

Professional career

Following his collegiate career, Harrell was drafted by the

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of the

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in the seventh round of the

1972 NFL Draft The 1972 NFL draft was held February 1–2, 1972, at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Walt Patulski. Player selections Round one Round two ...

, but elected instead to play 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 ...

. He played 5 seasons for 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 ...

, gained 1,419 yards rushing on 346 carries and caught 116 passes for 1,203 yards in 45 CFL games. He scored 15 rushing touchdowns and added another seven receiving. Harrell scored the only touchdown for the Eskimos in the

1974 Grey Cup The 62nd Grey Cup was played on November 24, 1974 before 34,450 fans at Empire Stadium in Vancouver. The Montreal Alouettes beat the Edmonton Eskimos 20–7 on a slick, wet field. Many balls were fumbled and passes dropped on a rainy Vancouver ...

, where they lost to the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

, 20 to 7. He scored the touchdown on an eight-yard reception, fumbling before he reached the end zone. He managed to recover his own fumble for the score.

Post playing career

Harrell returned to Arkansas and his wife's hometown of Augusta after spending time in farming, police work, coaching and restaurants. He eventually joined

Aetna Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...

Insurance.http://www.wholehogsports.com/adg/20312 Harrell died in 1994 at the age of 44.

Honors

Following the 1973 season, Harrell was named to the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

All-First Decade team (1964–1973). He was also named to the All-Time ASU Team during the 1976 season. Harrell was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2003, was the first inductee in the Arkansas State University Ring of Honor in 1996 and had his number retired by the team in that same year. He was also inducted into the ASU Sports Hall of Honor in 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrell, Calvin 1949 births 1994 deaths American football running backs American players of Canadian football Arkansas State Red Wolves football players Edmonton Elks players People from Augusta, Arkansas