David Cole Elmendorf (born June 20, 1949) is a former

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. He played as a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

for nine seasons in 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). He was a part of the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

Super Bowl XIV Super Bowl XIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Los Angeles Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champi ...

team. In 1997, he was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

. David attended and graduated, in 1967, from Westbury High School in

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. He was a star football running back and baseball player. Dave played his college ball at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, class of 1971. Elmendorf was a 1970 All-America in football and was a twice all-American center fielder on the baseball team and was safety, kick returner and occasional tailback on the football team. He was a straight-A student, with a major in economics. He also was named Academic All-America and won a graduate scholarship from the National Football Foundation. He was selected in the 1971 MLB Draft by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

but chose to play football for the

. He was drafted in the 3rd round of the

1971 NFL Draft The 1971 National Football League draft was held January 28–29, 1971, at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York. The Boston Patriots, who did not officially change their name to New England Patriots until after the draft, used th ...

. Elmendorf was a starter as a rookie for the 1971 Los Angeles Rams, making the All-rookie team. In 1973, he was voted the Rams "Outstanding Defensive Back", an honor he repeated in 1974. Also, in 1974 he intercepted a career-high 7 passes, returning two for touchdowns and was named All-NFC by AP. In 1975, he was a Second-team All-Pro by the AP and NEA and was Second-team All-NFC by UPI. In his nine NFL seasons Elmendorf played in 130 games, starting all 130, and intercepted 27 passes and recovered 10 fumbles.Databasefootball.com
After the NFL, he became a broadcaster on radio and TV, became a director of course acquisition for the American Golf Corporation, and in 1989 became general manager of Sugar Creek Golf Club in Houston, Texas. In 2007, he was color commentator for the Texas A&M football radio broadcasts as well as being involved in other business enterprises. In 2008, he was named General Manager of the Quail Valley Golf Course, located in the Quail Valley subdivision of

Missouri City, Texas Missouri City is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The city is mostly in Fort Bend County, with a small portion in Harris County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 74,259, up from 67,35 ...

. Elmendorf is regarded as one of the top two-sport athletes in A&M annals for baseball and football and has been nominated for numerous broadcast honors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elmendorf, Dave 1949 births Living people All-American college football players American football safeties Los Angeles Rams players Texas A&M Aggies football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Players of American football from Houston Players of American football from San Antonio