Rolland Derenfro "Bay" Lawrence (born March 24, 1951) is a former professional

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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

who played his entire

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 ...

career for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

from 1973 to 1980. He was selected All-Pro with the 1977 Grits Blitz defense, widely considered to be among the best in league history, and his 39 career interceptions are the most by a Falcons player. Lawrence was selected to his one and only

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

in 1977, when he accounted for 10 turnovers on seven interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Lawrence 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 ...

for the Tabor Bluejays in

Hillsboro, Kansas Hillsboro is a city in Marion County, Kansas, United States. Hillsboro was named after John Gillespie Hill, who homesteaded in the area in 1871.Hillsboro Kansas, The City on the Prairie; Wiebe, Raymond F; 1985. As of the 2020 census, the pop ...

. He became a charter member of the Tabor College Hall of Fame in 1999 and was the first player to have his jersey number (3) retired by the school four years later.

References

1951 births Living people People from Franklin, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American football cornerbacks Atlanta Falcons players National Conference Pro Bowl players Tabor Bluejays football players {{defensiveback-1950s-stub