Denton Fox (May 21, 1947 – April 29, 2013) 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

who 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 ...

for the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team of

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

. He was recognised as a second-team All-American in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

Early years

Fox graduated from

Claude High School Claude High School is a public high school located in Claude, Texas (USA) and classified as a 1A school by the UIL. It is part of the Claude Independent School District located in north central Armstrong County. In 2013, the school was rated " M ...

in Claude, Texas, where he practiced football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. He accepted a football scholarship to attend

, where he was a three-year starter for the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team from 1967 to 1969. His combination of size and speed was uncommon at the time for a

. During his 1969 senior season, he had four interceptions (one returned for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

); while receiving first-team All-Southwest Conference (SWC) and second-team All-American honors from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

(AP). He finished his college career with 7 interceptions. In 1989, he was inducted into the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame. In 2001, he was inducted into the Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Fox was selected by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

in the third round (75th overall pick) of the

1970 NFL Draft The 1970 National Football League Draft was the 35th National Football League Draft and the first of the league's modern era, following the merger of the National Football League with the American Football League. It was held on January 27–28, 1 ...

, to be used as a safety. During training camp he was limited with a foot injury he suffered in the Coaches All-America Game late in June. He was waived on August 4. On August 6,

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, he was claimed off waivers by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

and was released before the start of the regular season. On January 20,

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, he was signed as a free agent by the New Orleans Saints. On July 13, he announced his retirement from pro football.

Personal life

Fox died on April 29, 2013, two days after being hospitalized when he suffered an acute brain-stem stroke, his fourth stroke since 2010.

References

External links

Claude grad, Tech All-American Denton Fox dies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Denton 1947 births 2013 deaths People from Claude, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football cornerbacks All-American college football players Texas Tech Red Raiders football players