Ernest Leon "Ernie" Pough (born May 17, 1952) is a former

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 wi ...

player who performed in three seasons 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 Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants.

Early life

Pough grew up in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

and attended college at

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,00 ...

in Houston, Texas, a

historically black college Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. M ...

which at the time competed in Division II. He was a four-time

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

track athlete as well as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

and wide receiver on the school's football team.

Football career

Pough was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 1976 NFL Draft. Although he was considered undersized for the NFL, his sprinter's speed (he ran the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

in 9.3 seconds) made him a threat. He played for the Steelers for two seasons before being traded along with

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

Jim Clack James Thomas Clack (October 26, 1947 – April 7, 2006) was an American football center and guard in the National Football League. He played for 11 seasons between 1971 and 1981. He died of heart failure in 2006 after suffering from ca ...

to the New York Giants prior to the 1978 season in exchange for offensive lineman

John Hicks Sir John Richards Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economi ...

. He played one season with the Giants and one for the Edmonton Eskimos of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

before ending his football career.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pough, Ernie 1952 births Living people Stanton College Preparatory School alumni American football wide receivers Texas Southern Tigers football players Pittsburgh Steelers players New York Giants players Edmonton Elks players Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida