 Atkins on a 1954 Bowman football card | |||||||||||
| No. 83, 81 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defensive end | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | (1930-05-08)May 8, 1930 Humboldt, Tennessee, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Died | December 30, 2015(2015-12-30) (aged 85) Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | ||||||||||
| Listed weight | 257 lb (117 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Humboldt | ||||||||||
| College | Tennessee (1950–1952) | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1953: 1st round, 11th overall pick | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Douglas Leon Atkins (May 8, 1930 – December 30, 2015) was an American professionalfootballdefensive end who played for theCleveland Browns,Chicago Bears, andNew Orleans Saints in theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theTennessee Volunteers under head coachRobert Neyland. He is a member of theCollege Football Hall of Fame and thePro Football Hall of Fame. Atkins was also drafted to theNBA in the 17th round by theMinneapolis Lakers in the1953 NBA draft.
Atkins was a fierce defender who was known for using his immense size and agility to his advantage. At 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m), Atkins often batted passes down at the line of scrimmage and used his skills as ahigh jump champion to leapfrog blockers and get to the quarterback. Atkins was one of the first great exclusively defensive players in professional football and, along with fellow Hall of FamerGino Marchetti, revolutionized the defensive end position.[1]
Atkins was born May 8, 1930, in Humboldt, Tennessee.[2] He attended Humboldt High School and played for the school'sbasketball team, which won the state championship in 1949 with an undefeated record.[3][4] He enrolled at theUniversity of Tennessee to play for theTennessee Volunteers of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) on a basketballscholarship, but onceAmerican footballhead coachRobert Neyland saw his combination of size and agility, he wasrecruited for the football team.[5] Atkins played on the1951 Tennessee Volunteers football team that won the national championship.[3] He earnedAll-America honors in 1952. Atkins is one of the few players in Tennessee history to have his number retired. He was considered one of the, if not the, most dominant defensive players in SEC history. Atkins was the only unanimous selection to the SEC All Quarter-Century team and was selected as the overall SEC "Player of the Quarter-Century" for the years 1950 to 1975.[6] At Tennessee, Atkins also lettered in three seasons in track and field[7] and one season in basketball.[8] He finished runner-up in thehigh jump at the 1952Southeastern Conference championships with a mark of 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) which placed him 25th in the world that year.[9][10]
TheCleveland Browns selected Atkins in the first round with the 11th overall selection in the1953 NFL draft.[11][12] He played his first two seasons in the NFL with the Browns, winning theNFL Eastern Conference in 1953, and theNFL Championship in 1954.[13] The Browns traded Atkins andKen Gorgal to theChicago Bears for a third-round and a sixth-round pick in the1956 NFL draft.[14][15] According toPat Summerall, Atkins was traded by Paul Brown for burping out loud in a team meeting. In Chicago, Atkins quickly became the leader of a devastating defensive unit. With the Bears, Atkins was a First-teamAll-Pro selection in 1958, 1960, 1961, and 1963, along with being a starter in thePro Bowl in eight of his last nine years with Chicago.[16] Atkins' reputation of being rebellious of authority continued in Chicago. Once, Atkins was ordered by a coach to run laps during practice and was told to wear his helmet while doing so, as the weather was hot. When the coach looked at Atkins again, he was running laps wearingonly his helmet, having stripped himself of his uniform and pads.
At the1966 Pro Bowl, Atkins announced his retirement from football. He changed his mind and signed with the Bears for the 1966 season.[17] Before the 1967 season, Atkins requested a trade from Chicago and was traded to theNew Orleans Saints. He suffered a fractured knee cap during the 1968 season.[18] He retired after the 1969 season. On the final play of his NFL career, Atkins sackedPittsburgh Steelers quarterbackDick Shiner, preserving the Saints' 27–24 victory in the1969 season finale.[19]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theNFL championship | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Underline | Incomplete data |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Sck | Sfty | Int | Yds | Y/I | Lng | TD | FR | Yds | Y/F | TD | ||
| 1953 | CLE | 8 | 8 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 1954 | CLE | 12 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 1955 | CHI | 12 | 11 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 1956 | CHI | 6 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 1957 | CHI | 12 | 6 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1958 | CHI | 12 | 12 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 14.0 | 0 |
| 1959 | CHI | 12 | 12 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 1960 | CHI | 12 | 12 | 9.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 |
| 1961 | CHI | 14 | 14 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1962 | CHI | 14 | 10 | 10.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1963 | CHI | 14 | 14 | 12.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 1964 | CHI | 12 | 11 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 1965 | CHI | 14 | 14 | 10.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1966 | CHI | 12 | 12 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 1967 | NO | 14 | 11 | 9.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 1968 | NO | 11 | 11 | 12.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 1969 | NO | 14 | 14 | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| Career | 205 | 176 | 94.5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 34 | 3.1 | 0 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Sck | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | |||
| 1953 | CLE | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1954 | CLE | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1956 | CHI | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1963 | CHI | 1 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Career | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | |
Atkins was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1982 and theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1985.[20] In 2019, he was selected to theNFL's 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.[21] He has also been inducted into theChicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. DuringJohn W. Mecom Jr.'s ownership of the Saints, his No. 81 was retired. However, it was unretired in 1993.[22] His collegiate jersey number, No. 91, was retired by the University of Tennessee in 2005.[23]
TheNFL Network ranked him as the number 9 Pass Rusher of All Time in its Top Ten show.[24] During a 1983 segment about Atkins on theNFL Films show "This Is the NFL", legendary narratorJohn Facenda described Atkins "like a storm rolling over aKansas farmhouse. He came from all directions, and all there was to do was to tie down what you could, and hope he didn't take the roof".[25]
Former NFL tackleMike Tilleman called Atkins the best football player he had ever seen.[26]
Atkins married twice. His first wife was from Humboldt, and he married his second wife, fromMilan, Tennessee, after the death of his first wife.[3] He played a minor acting role as "Jebbo" in the 1975 film,Breakheart Pass, starringCharles Bronson. After he retired from the NFL, Atkins worked in various jobs, including as an exterminator, as a pipe system manager, and selling caskets to funeral homes.[27]
Atkins died of natural causes at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center inKnoxville, Tennessee, on December 30, 2015, at the age of 85.[28] He was survived by his wife, brother, and three sons.[3]
