| No. 22 | |||||||||||||
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| Position | Halfback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (1938-02-03)February 3, 1938 Mayflower, Arkansas, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Died | July 10, 1998(1998-07-10) (aged 60) Buffalo, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 204 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Pine Street (Conway, Arkansas) | ||||||||||||
| College | Philander Smith | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1961: 13th round, 180th overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||
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Coaching | |||||||||||||
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Elijah Eugene Pitts (February 3, 1938 – July 10, 1998) was an American professionalfootball player who was ahalfback in theNational Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, including 10 with theGreen Bay Packers.[1][2] Late in his career, he briefly played for theLos Angeles Rams andNew Orleans Saints. Pitts was an assistant coach in the league for over two decades, most notably as the assistant head coach of theBuffalo Bills.[3]
Born inMayflower, Arkansas, Pitts' father was asharecropper.[1] He playedhigh school football atsegregated Pine Street High School inConway, and also in themarching band at halftime.[4] Pitts had offers fromBig Ten programs and notableblack colleges, but chose to stay close to home and playedcollege football atPhilander Smith College inLittle Rock, where his older brother and former coach were.[4] His cousin, Eugene Pitt, was the leader ofThe Jive Five[5]
Pitts was selected by the Packers in the13th round of the1961 NFL draft, 180th overall.[3] He turned down a higher offer from theBoston Patriots of theAFL to play for a better team in the more established league.[4] A reserve for much of his early career behindhall of famerPaul Hornung,[6] he saw his most action for the Packers in1966,[7][8] and scored twotouchdowns in thefirstSuper Bowl.[9][10][11]
In January1970, after Lombardi's departure from the team, Pitts,Lee Roy Caffey, andBob Hyland were traded to theChicago Bears for thesecond overall pick in the1970 NFL draft.[12][13] At age 32, he was cut by the Bears and played for the Rams and Saints in 1970,[14][15][16] then returned to Green Bay for a final season in1971 with first-year head coachDan Devine.[17]
Pitts was a member of all fiveNFL championship teams under head coachVince Lombardi, including wins in the first two Super Bowls.[18] He was inducted into theGreen Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1979.[19]
After his playing career ended, Pitts was a scout for two seasons in Green Bay under Devine.[17] He became an assistantcoach for the Rams under head coachChuck Knox in1974, filling a running backs vacancy left byDick Vermeil's departure toUCLA.[16] Pitts went with Knox to theBuffalo Bills in1978, then left for theHouston Oilers in1981, on first-year head coachEd Biles' staff,[20] coaching hall of fame backEarl Campbell. After Biles was fired in1983, Pitts spent a season inCanada with theHamilton Tiger-Cats in1984 with head coachAl Bruno.[21][22]
Pitts returned to the Bills in1985 under head coachKay Stephenson and was retained by new coachesHank Bullough andMarv Levy in1986. He became assistant head coach in1992, coached in all four of the Bills' Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990s, and substituted ashead coach for Levy for three games in the1995 season.[2]
In October1997, Pitts was diagnosed withstomach cancer while he was still the Bills' assistant head coach. The disease claimed his life nine months later; he was 60 years old. Pitts was survived by his wife, two sons, and a daughter.[2][23]
Pitts' elder sonRon (b. 1962) was an NFL defensive back in the late 1980s with the Bills and Packers,[24] and is currently a sportscaster forCBS Sports Network.
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