Howard Newton "Sonny" Keys 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 ...
offensive lineman
In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...
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 ...
from 1960 to 1965 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 plays ...
. He was born in
Orlando, Oklahoma
Orlando is a town in Logan and Payne counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 148 at the 2010 census, compared to the figure of 201 in 2000. , on January 24, 1935. Sonny was a star athlete for the Pioneers at Stillwater High School in Stillwater, Oklahoma where he played football, basketball, baseball and track. He was named to the Oklahoma All-State football team and played in the All Stars game and the Oil Bowl. His high school named Sonny "Mr. Pioneer." He played all positions on the line, including
center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
. He went to college at
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
in
Stillwater. At OSU, he was part of the Cowboys championship Blue Grass Bowl game which was broadcast by
Howard Cosell
Howard is an English language, English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (disambiguation), Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defe ...
. Sonny is described as a "mauling defender" in OSU's Heritage Hall Museum in historic Gallagher-Iba Arena. He was drafted in the 12th round of the
1959 NFL Draft
The 1959 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 1, 1958, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 21, 1959. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. With the first overall pick in the dra ...
. He was a part of
Buck Shaw
Lawrence Timothy "Buck" Shaw (March 28, 1899 – March 19, 1977) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach for Santa Clara University, the University of California, Berkeley, the San Francisco 49ers, the United States Air Fo ...
's
1960 NFL Championship
The 1960 NFL Championship Game was the 28th NFL title game. The game was played on Monday, December 26, at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In addition to the landmark 1958 championship game, in which the Baltimore Colts defeat ...
season. He played five seasons with the Eagles and was known for knowing and playing every position on the offensive line. His family was featured in many local advertisements including Food Fair and a dairy distributorship. His teammate, Tommy McDonald, cited a tough Sonny Keys in the book "They Pay Me to Catch Footballs." In 1965, he joined Jerry Williams of the Calgary Stampeders as an assistant coach. After the Stampeders went to the Canadian Grey Cup, he chose to return to the NFL as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Browns under head coach Nick Skorich. After his death from complications of cancer in 1971, the Philadelphia Eagles dedicated their annual Christmas card to his memory. His outstanding scouting and recruiting abilities made his legacy live on in the NFL. For example, he brought fellow OSU alum, Jerry Sherk, to the Cleveland Browns, along with other top talents. As part of the 1960s world championship football team, Sonny was inducted into the city of Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
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