Marvin Leroy Keyes (February 18, 1947 – April 15, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

and

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

for five seasons 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) with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

and the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

. He was drafted by the Eagles in the first round of the

1969 NFL Draft The 1969 National Football League draft was part of the common draft, the third and final year in which the NFL and American Football League (AFL) held a joint draft of college players. The draft took place January 28–29, 1969. The draft be ...

. He played college football for the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname is also used as colloquial designation ...

. He was an All-American as a halfback on offense and played

corner Corner may refer to: People *Corner (surname) * House of Cornaro, a noble Venetian family (''Corner'' in Venetian dialect) Places *Corner, Alabama, a community in the United States *Corner Inlet, Victoria, Australia *Corner River, a tributary of ...

on defense and returned kicks and punts. He also played both ways for Philadelphia before settling in as a solid strong safety.

College career

Keyes played college football at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

, where he was an All-American in 1967 and 1968, and finished third in the 1967 Heisman Trophy voting, he finished second in the 1968 Heisman Trophy voting. In his very first collegiate game, played on national television against eventual national champion Notre Dame, Keyes made his presence known by returning a fumble 94 yards 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 Amer ...

. He played in the January 1967 Rose Bowl game, which Purdue won 14–13 over USC. He was a dynamic player running and catching the ball. He finished his career running for 2,090 yards and also had 1,204 receiving yards. In 1967, he led the nation in

scoring Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

as he rushed for 986 yards with 13 touchdowns and had 45 catches for 758 yards and 6 touchdowns. As a senior in 1968, he followed it up by running for 1,003 yards and 14 touchdowns while catching 33 passes for 428 yards and 1 touchdown.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Keyes was drafted by the

with the third pick in the

. He played for the Eagles from

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 ...

–

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

. He was considered the "consolation prize" by the Eagles, who had just lost out to the Buffalo Bills to draft O. J. Simpson with the first overall pick. Conversely, Keyes was drafted one pick ahead of

Joe Greene Charles Edward Greene (born September 24, 1946), better known as "Mean" Joe Greene, is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1 ...

; both Simpson and Greene would go on to the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

while Keyes is generally considered a

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

. He started out as a running back and had 637 total yards on offense including 3 rushing touchdowns as a rookie. He saw little playing time in 1970 and was moved to strong safety in 1971, where he made 6 interceptions and recovered 3 fumbles. The next year (1972), he had 2 interceptions in 14 starts before going to Kansas City.

Kansas City Chiefs

Keyes played for the

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

After football

Keyes worked for the John Purdue Club until he became an assistant athletic director for the

. Keyes was a member of The Pigskin Club Of Washington, D.C., as well as the National Intercollegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll. In 1987, Keyes was inducted into the

Virginia Sports Hall of Fame The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame honors athletes, coaches, administrators, journalists and other contributors to athletics. Many of the more than 350 inductees since 1972 were born in Virginia or enjoyed success in college, professional, amateur or ...

. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990. On December 30, 2010, Keyes was inducted into the

Rose Bowl Hall of Fame The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Rose ...

in a ceremony at the Pasadena Convention Center. On December 11, 2014, the Big Ten Network included Keyes on "The Mount Rushmore of Purdue Football", as chosen by online fan voting. Keyes was joined in the honor by

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...

, Bob Griese, and

Rod Woodson Roderick Kevin Woodson (born March 10, 1965) is an American former professional football defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He is currently the Head Coach of the XFL's Vegas Vipers. Woodson was drafted in the ...

. Keyes died on April 15, 2021, in West Lafayette, after several months of suffering from a recurrence of cancer and congestive heart failure. Keyes was survived by his wife Monica and children Colin, Raymond, Jacqueline and Courtland.

References