Name Dan Towler | Rushing yards: 3493 Positions Fullback | |
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Date of birth: (1928-03-06)March 6, 1928 Date of death: August 1, 2001(2001-08-01) (aged 73) NFL draft: 1950 / Round: 25 / Pick: 324 Education Washington & Jefferson College | ||
Football legend deacon dan towler memorialized in his hometown
Daniel Lee "Deacon" Towler (March 6, 1928 – August 1, 2001) was an American football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) as a fullback for the Los Angeles Rams from 1950 through 1955. He was the NFL leading rusher in 1952 and ranked among the top four rushers each year from 1951 to 1954. He graduated from Washington & Jefferson College.
The football statistics website Football Nation calls Towler "the greatest running back you don't know," and "a bright, shining star who lit up the NFL for an oh-so-brief but spectacular three-year period unlike any before or since." "[F]or a three-year period in the early 1950s," says Football Nation, "Towler was the closest thing the NFL has ever produced to an unstoppable ball carrier."
The Professional Football Researchers Association named Towler to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2006
After retiring from football, Towler was named pastor of the Lincoln Avenue Methodist Church in Pasadena, California. He was also a chaplain at California State University, Los Angeles and president of the Los Angeles County Board of Education.