 Mix with theSan Diego Chargers in 1969 | |||||||
| No. 74, 77 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Offensive tackle | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | (1938-03-10)March 10, 1938 (age 87) Los Angeles, California, U.S. | ||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||
| Listed weight | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school | Hawthorne(Hawthorne, California) | ||||||
| College | USC (1956–1959) | ||||||
| NFL draft | 1960: 1st round, 10th overall pick | ||||||
| AFL draft | 1960 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Ronald Jack Mix (born March 10, 1938) is an American former professionalfootball player who was anoffensive tackle in theAmerican Football League (AFL) andNational Football League (NFL).[1] He is a member of theAFL All-Time Team, and was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. Mix playedcollege football for theUSC Trojans, where he was named to theAll American team. He played at right tackle andguard for theLos Angeles /San Diego Chargers of the AFL and also played for theOakland Raiders of the NFL. While playing in Oakland for the Raiders he was a part of the only offensive line in NFL history to be composed entirely all Hall of Famers. Art Shell, Gene Upshaw, Jim Otto, Ron Mix, and Bob Brown from left to right. An eight-timeAFL All-Star (1961–1968) and a nine-timeAll-AFL (1960–1968) selection, he is also a member of theLos Angeles Chargers Hall of Fame.
Mix was born in Los Angeles, California, grew up in itsBoyle Heights neighborhood, and is Jewish.[2][3][4] He attendedHawthorne High School inHawthorne, California.[3]
Mix, who was listed at 6' 5" and 270 pounds, was an early proponent of weightlifting to enhance athletic power. He was years ahead of the curve that soon saw lineman and other football players taking up that practice to become better athletes. His lifts included amilitary press of 300 pounds, aclean and jerk of 325 pounds, and abench press of 425 pounds, all of the lifts considered to be exceptionally strong for that era of play.
Mix went to theUniversity of San Diego Law School in the off-season and earned aJuris Doctor degree in 1971.[5][6] He was nicknamed "The Intellectual Assassin" for his combination of intellectual excellence with his style of physical play.[1][4]
Mix attended theUniversity of Southern California (USC) on a football scholarship.[4] There in 1959 he was a First Team All American, AP First Team All-Pacific Coast, First Team All Big Five, and won the USC Lineman Award.[4] He was a member of theDelta Chi fraternity. At USC he minored in English. During his career Mix wrote a number of articles forSports Illustrated.[5] He was elected the National Jewish College Athlete of the Year.[7]
Mix was selected in the first round by two teams in 1960. TheBaltimore Colts picked him as the tenth pick in 1960 on November 30 in theNational Football League. He was drafted by theBoston Patriots in the first round of theAmerican Football League draft, but the rights to Mix were traded to theLos Angeles Chargers, who felt they had a worthy chance at getting the local player to sign with them. Baltimore offered him an $8,000 salary and a $1,000 signing bonus while Los Angeles offered $12,000 and a $5,000 bonus. Mix said he would've signed with Baltimore if they countered with a deal of $10,000 salary and $2,000 bonus. The Colts, telling him the league would flop in a year, declined, and Mix elected to sign with Los Angeles.[8][1][9][10]
He was a factor in the Chargers' early domination of the AFL's Western Division, and in San Diego helped them win anAmerican Football League Championship in1963, when they defeated theBoston Patriots 51–10 in thechampionship game. Mix was called for a mere two holding penalties in ten years.[1][11] His coach inSid Gillman once called him "the best offensive lineman I’ve ever seen."
Mix was the first white player in the 1965 AFL All-Star game in New Orleans to step forward and join his black teammates in acivil rights boycott. The racist environment of New Orleans caused the black players to say they weren't playing in a city that denied them the most basic rights (to eat, to get a cab, etc.). He made it clear that if the black players were not going to play, neither would he. That caused other white players to join the boycott. The game was then moved to Houston.[12]
He was elected to theAFL All-Star team for eight straight years as a Charger, was a nine-time All-AFL selection, is a member of theAll-time All-AFL Team, and is one of only 20 men who played the entire 10 years of the AFL.[13] He was the firstCharger to have his number retired in 1969 after he announced he was quitting football after playing injured that season.[14][15][16] He earned a J.D. degree from theUniversity of San Diego School of Law in 1970.[17]
Mix told the Chargers he wanted to play again, but they had found a replacement inGene Ferguson. After he asked to be traded to theNew York Jets, San Diego dealt him to theOakland Raiders for two high draft picks in 1970 and 1971.[16] The deal was contingent upon Mix unretiring and agreeing to play for Oakland;[18] he played with the Raiders in1971.[19][20] Chargers ownerEugene V. Klein, who hated the Raiders, unretired Mix's number 74.[21]
Mix was also thegeneral manager of theWFLPortland Storm in1974.[5]
In 1969 Mix was unanimously voted to the All-Time AFL Team by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and named to the Chargers Hall of Fame in 1978.[4][22]
He was voted to thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.[13] Mix was also elected a member of theInternational Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1980, inducted into theSouthern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1990,[23] inducted into theNational Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2008, and inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame of Northern California in 2010.[24][22][10][25] He was the second player from the AFL to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.Lance Alworth was the first in 1978.[13]
Mix practiced law inSan Diego, California, with his business focused on representing retired professional athletes in claims forworkers' compensation benefits. Prior to that, he was acivil litigator.
In 2016, the IRS accused Mix of filing a false tax return. Federal prosecutors said Mix got referrals for clients from a non-lawyer, a former professional basketball player client of his namedKermit Washington and that Mix made contributions to two charitable foundations run by Washington that supported a school and other causes in Africa. Mix took tax deductions for the contributions. Court records alleged that Washington diverted most of money donated to his charities for his own personal use. Mix pled guilty to one count of filing a false tax return. The plea agreement specifically said that Mix believed the charity was legitimate and did not know the funds were being diverted. Nonetheless, claiming the charitable contributions were wrong because Mix got something of value—the referrals.[26] US District Judge Greg Kays imposed a time-served sentence (less than probation). On February 24, 2019, Mix was permanently disbarred.[27][28]
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Media related toRon Mix at Wikimedia Commons