Eddie Doyle Meador (born August 10, 1937) is a former professional

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 ...

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 ...

for 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 ...

from 1959 to 1970.

High school

Meador graduated from Russellville High School (RHS) in 1955 as an All-Region and All-State football player. He was a three-sport letterman in football, basketball, and track at RHS, and the Cyclones won the Region 3AA football championship in 1954. He is a member of the RHS Athletic Hall of Fame.

College

Meador attended

Arkansas Tech University Arkansas Tech University (ATU) is a public university in Russellville, Arkansas. The university offers programs at both baccalaureate and graduate levels in a range of fields. The Arkansas Tech University–Ozark Campus, a two-year satellite cam ...

(ATU) in

Russellville, Arkansas Russellville is the county seat and largest city in Pope County, Arkansas, United States, with a 2021 estimated population of 29,338. It is home to Arkansas Tech University. Arkansas Nuclear One, Arkansas' only nuclear power plant is nearby. Rus ...

. During his college football career (1955–58), Meador seldom left the playing field because he was the tailback, a defensive back, a return specialist, and a co-captain for the Wonder Boys. In addition to football, Meador played basketball and ran track for ATU. Meador was named All-Conference in the

Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference The Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) was an athletic conference in existence from 1927 or 1928 to 1995 affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference membership consisted entirely of colleges ...

(AIC) in 1957–58 and was named Little All-American following his senior season at Tech. His collegiate career includes rushing for 3,410 yards and scoring 259 points. Tech won the AIC championship in 1958. There were other tremendous single-game, single-season, and career achievements that resulted in unofficially setting 19 collegiate records, which have since been surpassed. To cap off his career, Meador was invited to play in the Optimist Bowl in

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, where all-star-caliber football players from Division I were pitted against all-star-caliber football players from smaller colleges. Playing alongside all-star teammates such as

John Madden John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, who he led to eight pla ...

and

John Wooten John B. Wooten (born December 5, 1936) is a former American football guard who played nine professional seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins. Wooten played college football at the Univer ...

, Meador's team was narrowly defeated by the players of Division I. He was voted Arkansas Amateur Athlete of the Year in 1958. In 1959 Meador graduated with a teaching degree (Social Studies and Physical Education).

NFL

Meador was drafted in the 7th Round of the

1959 NFL Draft The 1959 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 1, 1958, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 21, 1959. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. With the first overall pick in the dra ...

, as the 80th pick overall. He was a starter as a rookie at cornerback and was voted the Rams' Defensive Rookie of the Year. Meador was voted to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

the following season, as well as being named second-team

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...

. In 1961 Meador tied for the NFL lead in fumbles recovered with 5 and was named All-Conference by ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

''. The following season, 1962, Meador was honorable mention All-Pro and set a Ram record by blocking 4 kicks. In 1963, he was second-team

and intercepted six passes. In 1964 Meador was moved from cornerback to free safety. He recorded 95 tackles and was named All-Conference by ''The Sporting News'' (an honor he would receive every year from 1964 through 1969). In 1965, he led the Rams with 126 tackles and was named second-team All-Pro for the third time. He was the holder for the Rams placekicks and on a fake field goal attempt he ran 17 yards for a touchdown. In 1966 Meador picked off 5 passes, recovered 3 fumbles logged 97 tackles on an improving 8–6 Rams team, that was headed by

George Allen George Allen may refer to: Politics and law * George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team * George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...

. The following season Meador had 100 tackles, intercepted 8 passes (returning 2 for touchdowns) and was named first-team All-Pro for the first time in his career. It was an honor he would also receive in both 1968 and 1969. In 1969 Meador logged 102 tackles and picked off 5 passes while making first-team All-Pro for the third time in as many seasons.

Legacy

Meador retired after the 1970 season. He is still the Rams all-time interception leader (with 46) and hold the team record for most opponents fumbles recovered (18) and blocked the most kicks in team history with 10. Along the way Meador was voted the Rams "defensive back of the year" seven times and was named to the Los Angeles Rams All-Time team in both 1970 and 1985 and voted to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1960s. Meador was a three-time First-team All-Pro and a three-time Second-team All-Pro. In addition he was a seven-time All-Western conference selection by ''

'' to match his six Pro Bowl Selections. *Named as the

NFL Players Association The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director DeM ...

President (1969–1970) *Inducted into the Arkansas Tech University Hall of Distinction (1969) *Awarded the NFL Father of the Year (1969) *Awarded the NFLPA Byron 'Whizzer' White Award (1969) *Elected to the Helms Athletic Foundation Sports Hall of Fame (1972) *Elected to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame (1978) *NAIA Collegiate Hall of Fame member In 2012, the

Professional Football Researchers Association The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional American football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by wri ...

named Meador to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meador, Eddie 1937 births Living people American football cornerbacks Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys football players Los Angeles Rams players Western Conference Pro Bowl players Players of American football from Dallas People from Russellville, Arkansas People from Pope County, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas