Hugh Lynn Pitts (April 8, 1934 – April 14, 2017) was an

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 ...

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, p ...

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) 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 ...

. He also was a member of 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 as ...

in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL). He 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 ...

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

Early years

Pitts attended

Woodville High School Woodville High School is a secondary school in Woodville, a north western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It was opened in 1915. The school provides music, performing and visual arts and sporting programs and has achieved success in these ...

. He accepted a football scholarship from

. As a junior, he became a starter at

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, receiving

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second-team All-American honors. As a senior, he was named a team co-captain and received second-team

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All-American honors. In 1976, he was inducted into the TCU Lettermen's Association Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Pitts was selected by the

in the second round (23rd overall) of the 1956 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he appeared in nine games, while playing

outside 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, ...

and intercepting three passes. In

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

, he notified the Rams that he was retiring from football. On June 18,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, he signed as a

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with the

of the

, after he was convinced to come out of retirement. He started 12 games in the franchise's inaugural season and contributed to the team becoming the first

champion. He was released before the start of the 1961 season. On July 7,

, the Rams traded his

NFL 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 major ...

rights to 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 exchange for

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

Al Barry Allan Barry (born December 24, 1930) is a former American football offensive guard in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants. He also played in the American Football League for the Los Angeles Chargers. ...

. Pitts never played for the Cowboys.

Personal life

Pitts worked in real state and as a rancher. He received different awards, including San Luis Obispo's Agriculturalist of the Year (2016) and Paso Roblan of the month (March) and of the year (2017). On April 14, 2017, he died at the age of 83, from a heart attack he suffered while flying on a plane.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitts, Hugh 1934 births 2017 deaths People from Woodville, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football centers TCU Horned Frogs football players Los Angeles Rams players Houston Oilers players American Football League players Ranchers from California