Joseph Manuel Orduna (born November 6, 1948) is a former

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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

who played for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

and

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

from 1972 to 1974. Orduna played college football for the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

where he ran for over 100 yards 4 times. He was the Cornhusker's leading rusher in their 1970 National Championship season with 834 yards. He was the most valuable player of the 1971

Coaches All-America Game The Coaches All-America Game was a postseason college football all-star game that served as the concluding game of the college football season, held from 1961 to 1976. The all-star game was sponsored by the American Football Coaches Association (A ...

. Over his career at Nebraska he rushed for 1958 yards. He was drafted by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in the 2nd round (49th pick overall) of the

1971 NFL draft The 1971 National Football League draft was held January 28–29, 1971, at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York. The Boston Patriots, who did not officially change their name to New England Patriots until after the draft, used th ...

but spent the 1971 season on the 49ers

taxi squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

due to a leg injury suffered in the final preseason game and did not play a game for them. The Giants acquired Orduna on waivers from the 49ers just before the beginning of the 1972 season. He was active for the Giants first game of the 1972 season but was deactivated for the next 3 games before he was reactivated due to injuries to other running backs. Orduna ended up playing 11 games for the Giants in 1972, starting 4. He rushed for 129 yards on 36 carries with 1

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 ...

. In 1973 Orduna played in all 14 games for the Giants, starting 3 and rushing for 104 yards on 36 attempts with 1 touchdown. Before the 1974 season the Giants traded him along with a draft choice to the Colts for

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Roy Hilton Roy Lee Hilton (March 23, 1943 – January 6, 2019) was an American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) from 1965 through 1975. Early life During that span he appeared in Super Bowl III and Super Bowl V for the Baltim ...

. Although he played in all 14 games for the Colts in 1974, he rushed only twice for 3 yards and 1 touchdown, all coming in an October 20 game against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. The Colts waived him before the 1975 season due to an excess of running backs on the team, and he was not picked up by any other team.

References

External links

University of Nebraska Athletics
– Joe Orduna * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orduna, Joe 1948 births American football running backs New York Giants players Baltimore Colts players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Players of American football from Omaha, Nebraska Living people Omaha Central High School alumni