 Little in 2013 | |||||||||
| No. 73, 66 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1945-11-02)November 2, 1945 (age 80) Groveland, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 265 lb (120 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Booker T. Washington(Miami, Florida) | ||||||||
| College | Bethune–Cookman | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1967: undrafted | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
Playing | |||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Head coaching record | |||||||||
| Career | College: 78–80–1 (.494) WLAF: 1–9 (.100) Total: 79–89–1 (.470) | ||||||||
Larry Chatmon Little (born November 2, 1945) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aguard in theAmerican Football League (AFL) and theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theBethune–Cookman Wildcats. He signed with theSan Diego Chargers as anundrafted free agent in 1967. After two years in San Diego, he was then traded to theMiami Dolphins where he played for the rest of his career, establishing himself as one of the best guards in the NFL.
Little was a five-timePro Bowl selection, and a seven-timeAll-Pro selection. He was the starting right guard of a dominant Dolphins offensive line which included Hall of Fame centerJim Langer and left guardBob Kuechenberg, that was instrumental in the Dolphins winningSuper Bowl VII during theirperfect season in 1972, andSuper Bowl VIII the following year. He was elected to theNFL 1970s All-Decade Team, a member of theMiami Dolphins Honor Roll, and was elected to thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
Little was born in Groveland, Georgia, on November 2, 1945, the second of six children. The family moved toFlorida and he grew up in the Overtown neighborhood inMiami.[1][2] His mother was his greatest influence.[3] As a child, his favorite team was theBaltimore Colts.[3] He attendedBooker T. Washington Senior High School in Miami, where he played football as atwo-way lineman, starting in his junior and senior years.[4][5][6]
He has been inducted into the Booker T. Washington High School Hall of Fame.[7] In 2007, Little was named by theFlorida High School Athletic Association to its Team of the Century, to celebrate 100 years of high school football in Florida.[8] In 2016, as part of its Hometown Hall of Fame program, thePro Football Hall of Fame honored Little with a plaque presented to Booker T. Washington.[9] In 2023, he was inducted into the Florida High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.[5]
Through the efforts of his high school coach Alkin Hepburn, Little was offered a football scholarship toBethune-Cookman University (then Bethune-Cookman College) where he played on theBethune–Cookman Wildcats team from 1964 to 1967. He played on both the offensive and defensive lines at the respective tackle positions. He was a team captain, and a three-time All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) selection.[6][10][11]
His 1966 teammates named him their most valuable player and outstanding defensive player.[12] Little was also named aLittle All-American by the Ebony College Scoreboard in 1966.[8][13] He was inducted into the Bethune-Cookman Hall of Fame in 2012.[14]
Little's defensive line coach, and fellow Bethune-Cookman Hall of famer, Cyril Lloyd "Tank" Johnson was Little's favorite coach at any level.[3] Johnson had played at Bethune-Cookman (class of 1958), served as its football team's assistant coach/defensive coordinator (1961-78), and became the school's athletic director (1972-91).[15][16]
Little went undrafted in1967. After the draft, he received free agent offers from Miami, San Diego, and Baltimore. He signed as a free agent with theAmerican Football League'sSan Diego Chargers because they offered him the largest signing bonus ($750).[17] After playing for San Diego in 1967 and 1968, coachSid Gillman grew frustrated with Little's not controlling his weight. He was traded to the AFL'sMiami Dolphins for cornerback Mack Lamb before the1969 season,[18][10] when he was named anAFL All-Star.[19] "I didn't particularly like the trade," Little said in the January 1974 issue ofSPORT.[20] "The Dolphins weren't much then."[21] In his first year with Miami, although an All-Star, the Dolphins' record was a poor 3-10-1.[18]
Future Pro Football Hall of Fame coachDon Shula became the Dolphins' head coach in 1970.[18] Among other things, he helped Little control his weight.[10][21] Of the 11 years he played for the Dolphins (1969-1980), Little played ten of them under Shula (1970-1980), missing only four games in 11 seasons, despite numerous injuries. He was considered an intimidating force run blocking and a superb pass blocker.[10]
Little was a key contributor to the success of the Dolphins' punishing running attack of the early and mid-1970s, which featuredLarry Csonka,Mercury Morris, andJim Kiick. Shula, a coach on theNFL 100th Anniversary All Time Team,[22] said Little played a major role in the Dolphins success as both a pass blocker and run blocker.[10] Little was a member of the 1972 Dolphins championship team that went 17-0, which established a record for team rushing yards at the time (2,960 yards in a 14 game season[23]). The Dolphins' rushing average per year in the 1970s (2,372 yards rushing per year) led the NFL in that decade.[10] Little played under offensive line coachMonte Clark, whom Little acknowledged at his Hall of Fame induction.[24][10]
In 1973, he became to first guard to be paid a $100,000 annual salary.[18]
From 1971 through 1975, Little was named first-teamAll-Pro five times, and again in 1977; and was second-team All-Pro in 1978 (and named second-team in 1977 by theAssociated Press andUnited Press International).[10][25] He was All-AFC five times.[10] He appeared in five straight NFLPro Bowls from 1971 to 1975, and appeared in the1969 AFL All-Star Game.[10][19] He was named the National Football League Players Association's AFC Offensive Lineman of the Year three times (1970-1972).[10] He was named to theNFL 1970s All-Decade Team at guard, along withJoe DeLamielleure.[26]
He also served as head football coach of hisalma mater, from 1983 to 1991, winning Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships in 1984 and 1988.[14] He was head coach atNorth Carolina Central University (NCCU) from 1993 to 1998. At least four of his NCCU players,Shawn Gibbs,Adrian Jones,Trei Oliver, andDawson Odums went on to become college football coaches.[5][27] In addition, Little served as head coach of theOhio Glory of theWorld League of American Football (which eventually became the now-defunctNFL Europe), for one year.[18]
In 1993, Little was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame, with the NFL's all-time winning coach Don Shula[28] as his presenter.[10] In 2013, he was inducted intoBlack College Football Hall of Fame.[29][30] He has also been inducted into the Florida Black Colleges Football Hall of Fame, and the Bob Hayes Hall of Fame (2019).[7] In 1978, he was inducted into theFlorida Sports Hall of Fame.[31]
On December 16, 1993, Little was added to theMiami Dolphins Honor Roll.[21] In 2011, Little was among the inaugural class entering the Miami Dolphins Walk of Fame.[32]
In 1999, he was ranked number 79 onThe Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.[33][34]
Miami's City Commission honored Little by naming a street after him.[35]
During his playing career and after, he had a boys camp for underprivileged children, the Gold Coast Summer Camp,[7][36] eventually backed by theUnited Way. He was also listed in Who's Who in Black America.[3][10]
Little's younger brother,David Little, was a linebacker for thePittsburgh Steelers.[37]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethune–Cookman Wildcats(Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)(1983–1991) | |||||||||
| 1983 | Bethune–Cookman | 4–4–1 | 1–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1984 | Bethune–Cookman | 7–3 | 4–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1985 | Bethune–Cookman | 6–4 | 3–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1986 | Bethune–Cookman | 3–8 | 2–3 | 5th | |||||
| 1987 | Bethune–Cookman | 4–7 | 2–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1988 | Bethune–Cookman | 5–6 | 4–2 | T–1st | |||||
| 1989 | Bethune–Cookman | 5–5 | 3–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1990 | Bethune–Cookman | 4–7 | 1–5 | 6th | |||||
| 1991 | Bethune–Cookman | 4–6 | 3–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| Bethune–Cookman: | 45–48–1 | 23–23 | |||||||
| North Carolina Central Eagles(Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association)(1993–1998) | |||||||||
| 1993 | North Carolina Central | 6–5 | 5–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1994 | North Carolina Central | 6–5 | 5–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1995 | North Carolina Central | 5–6 | 4–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1996 | North Carolina Central | 8–3 | 5–3 | T–4th | |||||
| 1997 | North Carolina Central | 4–7 | 4–3 | T–4th | |||||
| 1998 | North Carolina Central | 4–6 | 3–4 | 7th | |||||
| North Carolina Central: | 33–32 | 26–20 | |||||||
| Total: | 78–80–1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
