Terry Cole (July 7, 1945 – November 11, 2005) was an American football running back who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL).

High school and college career

He started his career at Mitchell High School, where he was named to the All-State team in both his junior and senior years, earning All-American honors his senior year. Cole went on to play at Indiana University, where he started at fullback his sophomore, junior, and senior years. In 1967, he was named MVP of the annual Old Oaken Bucket game against Purdue University, rushing for 155 yards and one touchdown.

Professional football career

Cole played six seasons for the

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 ...

, the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, and the Miami Dolphins, as well as in the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

with the Houston Texans/Shreveport Steamer. Highlights of his pro football career include three

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

appearances and was the runner-up for the 1968 rookie of the year award. After his NFL career, Cole started several small businesses and was president of Cole-Chem, a diversified specialty chemical company. Cole was inducted into the

Indiana Football Hall of Fame The Indiana Football Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in Richmond, Indiana. It honors persons associated with high school, college and professional American football in Indiana. It also works to establish scholarships and endowments ...

in 1992 and received the Zora Clevenger award in 2005, the highest honor given to a former IU athlete. In September 2000 the

Mitchell High School (Indiana) Mitchell High School is a small public high school located in Mitchell, Indiana, United States. History The graded public school system was first utilized in Mitchell in 1869. Ten years later, the Emerson School was built on 8th Street. Emers ...

football field was officially renamed Terry Cole Field. Cole died on November 11, 2005 of cancer.

References

1945 births 2005 deaths Players of American football from Dallas American football running backs Indiana Hoosiers football players Baltimore Colts players Pittsburgh Steelers players Miami Dolphins players Sigma Alpha Epsilon members {{runningback-1940s-stub