Obert Clark "Butch" Logan (December 6, 1941 – January 21, 2003) 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 ...
safety
Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk.
Meanings
There are ...
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 ...
for 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 ...
and
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
. 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 ...
at
Trinity University. Logan, whose nickname was "The Little O", was the last person in the
NFL to wear the single digit 0 before its use was discontinued by the league.
Early years
Obert attended
Gonzales High School, where he competed in football, basketball, baseball and track. Originally recruited to
Trinity University as a
defensive back
In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...
, he was the best athlete on the team, so his coaches persuaded him to play both ways. He was a four year starter, playing
defensive back
In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...
,
flanker and
halfback. In his first 2 seasons he led the team in rushing and in his last 2 years he led them in receiving.
As a senior, he set a school and
Southland Conference
The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...
record with 11 receiving
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 ...
s. He set a school mark with an 81 yard run against
Southwest Texas State College
Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...
. He set a school record with a 79 yard reception against
McMurry University
McMurry University is a private Methodist university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1923 and named after William Fletcher McMurry. The university offers forty-five majors in the fields of fine arts, humanities, social and natural scien ...
. He also set school marks with 23 kickoff returns for 465 yards. He finished his college career with 33 kickoff returns (school record) for 690 kickoff return yards (school record).
He received honorable-mention Little
All-American honors as a senior, was a three-time member of the All-Texas team and a three-time
All-Southland Conference selection. He also practiced
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
and
track
Track or Tracks may refer to:
Routes or imprints
* Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity
* Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across
* Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
.
In 1999, he was inducted into the
Trinity University Hall of Fame.
Professional career
Dallas Cowboys (first stint)
Logan was signed as an
undrafted free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
by 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 ...
after the
1965 NFL Draft. The team tried him first at
flanker, before moving him to
safety
Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk.
Meanings
There are ...
, where he would end up surprising observers by making the Cowboys opening day roster for the
1965 season.
As a rookie, he was a reserve playing behind
Mel Renfro, until the fifth game when he was named the starter at
free safety
Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...
. Early in his first season, he forced a kickoff fumble that resulted in 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 Ameri ...
. One of his 3 interceptions came against 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 plays ...
, when he picked off a
Norm Snead
Norman Bailey Snead (born July 31, 1939) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants, and San Francisco 49ers. He played coll ...
goal-line pass with two minutes left to secure a 21-19 win. Against 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 ...
,
Larry Stephens
Lawrence Geoffrey Stephens (16 July 1923p.14926 January 1959) was a BBC radio scriptwriter, best remembered for co-writing ''The Goon Show'' with Spike Milligan. Stephens was a regular writer of the show for the first two years, and then return ...
blocked a
field goal
A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...
that Logan returned to the Cowboys 47-yard line, helping the Cowboys set up a last minute
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 ...
to end a 5-game losing streak.
In the last game of the season against 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. ...
, he returned a blocked
field goal
A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...
by
Cornell Green 60 yards for a key
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 ...
, helping his team win the game, complete the first non-losing season in franchise history and advance to the
Playoff Bowl
The Playoff Bowl (officially known as the Bert Bell Benefit Bowl) was a post-season game for third place in the National Football League (NFL), played ten times following the through seasons, all at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was or ...
.
In
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
, he was a key member of the
special teams
In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...
unit which blocked nine
field goal
A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...
s (three times as many as other team in the
NFL and Logan blocked two of those), 5
extra points and 1
punt, totaling 15 kicks blocked.
In
1966, between Renfro being switched to the offense and also experiencing some injuries, Logan was able to start in 6 games and finished with 2 interceptions. He also played in the
1967 NFL Championship Game (commonly known as the Ice Bowl).
Logan was small for an
NFL player, being and while listed at 182 pounds, appeared to weigh closer to 160. He also possessed good but not overwhelming speed. What set him apart was tremendous courage and a full out style of play that gave evidence of his knowledge and love for the game.
New Orleans Saints
Logan was selected by the
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
in the
1967 NFL Expansion Draft, becoming the franchise's first starting
free safety
Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...
. He was released on August 25,
1968.
Dallas Cowboys (second stint)
On August 28,
1968, he was claimed by 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 ...
. On September 4, he was released and later signed to the
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, ...
, where he spent the rest of the season.
On August 30,
1969, he was released after being tried out as a
flanker.
He would spend his last 2 years of professional football in the
Texas Football League
The Texas Football League (TFL) was a low-level American football minor league that operated in primarily in the United States from 1966 through 1968, and again between 1970 and 1971 as a new incarnation called the Trans-American Football League ...
.
Personal life
Logan was well liked and respected by his teammates and his courage and attitude toward the game. After the
NFL, Logan spent one season as an assistant player-coach for the San Antonio Toros of the
Continental Football League. He then held the same position for one year the Fort Worth Braves of the
Texas Football League
The Texas Football League (TFL) was a low-level American football minor league that operated in primarily in the United States from 1966 through 1968, and again between 1970 and 1971 as a new incarnation called the Trans-American Football League ...
, which was serving as a farm club for 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 tea ...
.
He was trying his hand in the rodeo business as a rancher, when he accepted the Athletic Director and his last coaching job for the
St. Paul Cardinals of Shiner, Texas. He contracted colon cancer and died in Luling, Texas at his home at the age of 61 on January 21, 2003. He would often tell friends that the most memorable thing about playing
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
for the Cowboys was Coach
Tom Landry
Thomas Wade Landry (September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American professional football player and coach. He was the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL), a position he held for 29 seasons. Dur ...
. Logan remembered that the first thing Landry told the rookies at training camp was that his priorities were "God, family and 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 ...
". He recalled being surprised that football was not Landry's first priority.
At his funeral many of his Cowboy's teammates served as his pall bearers, among them were
Lee Roy Jordan
Lee Roy Jordan (born April 27, 1941) is a former American football linebacker. After attending the University of Alabama, playing under head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, he played 14 years in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys from ...
,
Walt Garrison
Walter Benton Garrison (born July 23, 1944) is a former American football fullback in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Oklahoma State University.
Early years
Born in Denton, Texas, Garrison atte ...
,
Bob Lilly
Robert Lewis Lilly (born July 26, 1939), nicknamed "Mr. Cowboy", is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle. After playing college football for the TCU Horned Frogs, he played for the Dallas Cowboys of the Nat ...
,
Don Meredith
Joseph "Dandy" Don Meredith (April 10, 1938 – December 5, 2010) was an American football quarterback, sports commentator, and actor. He spent all nine seasons of his professional playing career (1960–1968) with the Dallas Cowboys of the Nat ...
, and
Tex Schramm
Texas Earnest Schramm Jr. (June 2, 1920 – July 15, 2003) was an American football executive who was the original president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys franchise of the National Football League (NFL). Schramm, usually referred to ...
. Logan had maintained lifelong friendships with all of these men. After his death Cowboy great
Lee Roy Jordan
Lee Roy Jordan (born April 27, 1941) is a former American football linebacker. After attending the University of Alabama, playing under head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, he played 14 years in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys from ...
said of him, "Obert was just a nice guy. I loved being around him. He was undersized and under-everything else but he proved right away that he was a great competitor. He represented 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 ...
well". Logan was survived by his mother Fannie Mae Logan, wife Patricia, and brother James.
References
External links
Former Cowboys Logan remembered for more than footballCardinal making major changes under Logan*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Logan, Obert
1941 births
2003 deaths
People from Yoakum, Texas
Gonzales High School (Texas) alumni
Players of American football from Texas
American football safeties
Continental Football League players
Dallas Cowboys players
New Orleans Saints players