Garland Dean Boyette (March 22, 1940 – April 19, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

in the American Football League (AFL) and

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 played for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

from 1962 to 1972. He also played for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (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 East Division of the Canad ...

of 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 ...

(CFL), as well as the Houston Texans/Shreveport Steamer of the World Football League (WFL). In 1967, he was the regular starting middle linebacker for the Oilers and joined

Willie Lanier Willie Edward Lanier (born August 21, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a middle linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1967 through 1977. He won postseason honors for eight consecutive years, making the Amer ...

of the Kansas City Chiefs as the first African-Americans to start that position in professional football.

Early life

Boyette was born in

Rayville, Louisiana Rayville is a town in and the parish seat of Richland Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The population, which is 69 percent African American, was 4,234 at the 2000 census, but it had declined by nearly 13 percent in 2010 to 3,695. ...

, on March 22, 1940. He attended Wallace High School in

Orange, Texas Orange is a city and the county seat of Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 19,324. It is the easternmost city in Texas, located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, and is from Hous ...

, graduating in 1958. He initially studied at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, but left after the first semester and ultimately transferred to study biology at

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Herita ...

on the recommendation of his nephew,

Ernie Ladd Ernest Ladd (November 28, 1938 – March 10, 2007), nicknamed "The Big Cat", was an American professional football player and professional wrestler. A standout athlete in high school, Ladd attended Grambling State University on a basketball sc ...

. Boyette was in the starting lineup for the

Grambling State Tigers The Grambling State Tigers and Lady Tigers represent Grambling State University in NCAA intercollegiate athletics. Grambling's sports teams participate in Division I (I-FCS for football) as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). ...

during his sophomore year, playing as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

and defensive tackle and later receiving All-American honors at those positions. Together with Ladd,

Jerry Robinson Sherrill David Robinson (January 1, 1922 – December 7, 2011), known as Jerry Robinson, was an American comic book artist known for his work on DC Comics' Batman line of comics during the 1940s. He is best known as the co-creator of Robin and ...

, and Roosevelt Taylor, he helped the Tigers finish 9–1 during the 1960 season, with the team recording three

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

and scoring over 60 points on three occasions. The school went on to win its first Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship that year. Boyette was also a

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who was selected as an All-American three times. He competed in the 1960 United States Olympic trials and narrowly missed qualifying for decathlon. He identified the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

and long-distance running as the most challenging events for him, stating he "never felt safe on that aluminum pole". Upon graduating in 1962, Boyette was left undrafted in that year's NFL Draft. He eventually signed with the

and changed positions to

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

, learning the role over the summer of 1962.

Career

Boyette made his NFL debut with the Cardinals in 1962, and played in 14 games (6 starts) during his first season. He was recognized as the first African-American to start at middle linebacker in professional football, together with

(who made his NFL debut in 1967), and later recounted receiving

hate mail Hate mail (as electronic, posted, or otherwise) is a form of harassment, usually consisting of invective and potentially intimidating or threatening comments towards the recipient. Hate mail often contains exceptionally abusive, foul or otherwi ...

as a result. After two seasons with the franchise, Boyette left for the

, having become disillusioned by the higher salary of newer NFL players compared to his. He subsequently played for the

from

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

to 1965, winning the league's Most Valuable Player Award and being selected as an All-Canadian during the latter season. Boyette went back to the US in 1966, signing with the American Football League's

, reuniting with

Wally Lemm Walter Horner Lemm (October 23, 1919 – October 8, 1988) was an American football coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels and achieved his greatest prominence as head coach of the American Football League's Houston Oilers an ...

, his former coach at the Cardinals. The Oilers finished atop of the Eastern Division during Boyette's second season with the team in 1967, and also qualified for the playoffs two years later. He was named to the AFL All-Star team in 1968 and 1969. During the 1971 season, he finished sixth in the league in fumbles recovered (4), ninth in non-offensive touchdowns (1), and tied for most fumble return touchdowns (1). Boyette briefly retired at the end of the 1972 season and proceeded to serve as the Oilers'

quality control coach A quality control coach is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team whose primary job is preparing the team for a game, beginning sometimes two or three weeks before the actual game. Their primary duties include preparing for the ...

. After two seasons in that position, he returned to play for the Houston Texans of the World Football League. Midway through the 1974 season, the Texans relocated to Shreveport and were renamed the Steamer. Boyette finished his career with the Shreveport Steamer in 1975, at the age of 35. Boyette was inducted into the Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame in July 2010. Six years later, he was enshrined into the SWAC Hall of Fame. He was also honored in the Sports Legends Gallery at the

Museum of the Gulf Coast The Museum of the Gulf Coast, located in Port Arthur, Texas, specializes in Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast history. A 39,000 sq. ft. facility with its most notable exhibits are a gallery of Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg ...

Personal life

Boyette was married to Winetta, with whom he had three children. He was the uncle of Paul Boyette Jr., who played for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

and also went undrafted before signing with the Oakland Raiders in 2017. After retiring from professional football, Boyette was employed as a manager for

Southwestern Bell Southwestern Bell Telephone Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T. It does business as other d.b.a. names in its operating region, which includes Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and portions of Illinois. The company is cu ...

for 28 years. He worked in that capacity until retiring in the early 2000s, after which he served as a motivational speaker, as well as a volunteer with the Boys & Girls Club 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 i ...

and the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in ...

. He resided in

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 67,3 ...

, during his later years in a house that he constructed. Boyette attended the Bayou Classic annually in his retirement. Boyette died on the evening of April 19, 2022, in Houston, aged 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyette, Garland 1940 births 2022 deaths AT&T people African-American players of American football American Football League All-Star players American Football League players American football linebackers Grambling State Tigers football players Houston Oilers players Houston Texans (WFL) players Montreal Alouettes players Players of American football from Missouri City, Texas People from Orange, Texas Players of American football from Louisiana Shreveport Steamer players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References