Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Packers Running Back Elijah Pitts


Elijah Pitts, shown in today’s blog posting gaining yardage in Super Bowl I (where he would score two TDs), spent 25 years in the National Football League. He played 10 seasons with the Packers, from 1961-'69 and again in '71. He was a member of five NFL championship teams with Green Bay and finished his Packers career as the 20th-leading rusher in franchise history, with 1,684 yards in 479 carries, an average of 3.5 yards per carry.

He later was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Rams, Houston Oilers and the Buffalo Bills, where he spent a total of 16 seasons — including their four consecutive Super Bowl losses. In October 1997, Pitts was diagnosed with stomach cancer, which claimed his life nine months later at the age of 60. Pitts' son Ron Pitts is currently a sportscaster for the Fox television network, and also played for the Packers from 1988-1990.