William David Leggett (September 18, 1933 – March 26, 2013) was a

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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. He played collegiately at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

from 1952–1954. In 1954, he led Ohio State to an undefeated 10–0 season and a berth in the Rose Bowl, where Ohio State defeated USC and Leggett was named MVP. He was drafted by the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ...

in the 7th round (74th overall) of the

1955 NFL Draft The 1955 National Football League draft was held January 27–28, 1955 at the Warwick Hotel in New York City. This was the ninth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery. With the previous eight winners ineligib ...

. Leggett was most famous for his play in the 1954

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

game. Ohio State's undefeated season was on the line, with the score tied 7–7 in the fourth quarter. Michigan was on the Ohio State one yard line with a fourth down and went for it. Michigan pitched the ball to the right and on defense Leggett was a great safety and it was only him and the Michigan ball carrier at the end zone and as the Michigan back leaped for the end zone Leggett went for his legs and flipped the Michigan man over to stop him short of the end zone. With the ball on Ohio State's own one-yard-line, Leggett led the Buckeyes on a drive for the eventual game-winning touchdown. Leggett, besides being the most valuable player in that 1955 Rose Bowl win, lettered for coach Woody Hayes and the Buckeyes in 1952, 1953 and 1954. After graduating from Ohio State in 1955 with a degree in business, Leggett played briefly for the Chicago Cardinals, as mentioned above, before getting called into the military (he was in ROTC at Ohio State). He spent two years in the Air Force and then played football in the Canadian Football League. He then rejoined the Air Force for a time, and after a three-year military stint in Germany, returned to the United States and spent most of his professional life working in the investment and financial planning business. Leggett died Tuesday, March 26, 2013 at his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, after a long illness.

References

External links

Dave Leggett's profile at Pro Football Reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leggett, Dave 1933 births 2013 deaths People from New Philadelphia, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio American football quarterbacks Ohio State Buckeyes football players Chicago Cardinals players