Samuel "Sammy" Jack Claphan (October 10, 1956 – November 26, 2001) was an offensive lineman in the National Football League. Claphan attended high school at

Stilwell High School Stilwell High School is a high school (grades 9–12) in Stilwell, Oklahoma, United States. As of 2006 it had some 615 students, of whom 70% were Native American, and some 38 teachers. The 1988-1989 class was the largest graduating class with a ...

in Stilwell, Oklahoma. He played his way to All-American status in 1974. He was recruited by Head Coach Barry Switzer to play at the University of Oklahoma. Claphan died of a heart attack on November 26, 2001.

Career

Sam Claphan played on the 1974 and 1975 National Championship teams. He was the starting lineman for the Oklahoma Sooners from 1975–1978. At 6' 7" and 295 lbs, Claphan was the largest player on the team. He was drafted in the second round of the

1979 NFL Draft The 1979 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1979, at the Waldorf Astoria ...

(47th overall pick) by the Cleveland Browns but failed to make the roster due to a preseason injury. He was picked up by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

in 1980. Claphan played longer in the NFL than any other University of Oklahoma lineman. He was a starting

offensive tackle 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 ...

for the San Diego Chargers, protecting the blind side of

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

quarterback Dan Fouts. He was with the Chargers from 1981-1987 until he retired. Claphan, a Cherokee, was inducted into the

American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame Haskell Indian Nations University is a public tribal land-grant university in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1884 as a residential boarding school for Native American children, the school has developed into a university operated b ...

in 1994.American Indian Hall of Fame
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References

External links

1956 births 2001 deaths People from Tahlequah, Oklahoma Cherokee Nation sportspeople Players of American football from Oklahoma American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Oklahoma Sooners football players San Diego Chargers players 20th-century Native Americans {{offensive-lineman-1950s-stub