KU Football: Best NFL Careers All-Time

Best Jayhawks in the NFL – Number 3: Mike McCormack

NFL player in 1951 and from 1954-1962

Mike McCormack is an interesting story, as he first entered the NFL with the New York Yanks (a team that hasn’t been around since the 50s). McCormack was the Yanks’ first pick in the 1951 NFL Draft and he played for a season there before being drafted elsewhere.

With his ability to be great on both sides of the ball, he is no doubt one of Kansas’ best football players to this day.

McCormack went and fought in the Korean War and when he returned, the Yanks were no longer a team. The Cleveland Browns brought him on and he quickly became one of their best players.

Originally a defensive player, McCormack and the Browns were able to win an NFL title in 1954, and repeated in 1955, despite McCormack switching to the offensive line.

McCormack on the line helped Jim Brown become one of the best running backs of all-time. The former Jayhawk went on to have a nice ten-year career in the pros (one with the Yanks, the other nine with Cleveland) and was a two-time NFL champion.

Mike McCormack was a six-time Pro Bowler and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1984. With his ability to be great on both sides of the ball, he is no doubt one of Kansas’ best football players to this day.

He’s third on this list.

Next: Big Rig