Mike Curtis (American football)

Mike Curtis
Career information
No. 32
Date of birth	(1943-03-27) March 27, 1943
Place of birth	Rockville, Maryland, U.S.
Position(s)	Linebacker
College	Duke
AFL draft	1965 / Round: 3 / Pick: 21 (by the Kansas City Chiefs)
NFL draft	1965 / Round: 1 / Pick: 14
Career history
As player
1965-1975	Baltimore Colts
1976	Seattle Seahawks
1977-1978	Washington Redskins
Career highlights and awards
Pro Bowls	1968, 1970, 1971, 1974
Honors	AP 1st Team All-Pro (1968, 1969) Super Bowl V Champion (1971) Pro Football Weekly, PFWA and UPI 1st Team All-Pro (1968) NEA 2nd Team All-Pro (1968) The Sporting News 2nd Team All-Pro (1969) UPI All-AFC 2nd Team (1970, 1971, 1974) 1970 NFL 101 AFC Defensive Player of the Year 20/20 Club Duke University Sports Hall Of Fame (1981) Maryland State Athletic Hall Of Fame (2013)
Career stats
Playing stats at NFL.com Playing stats at DatabaseFootball.com

James Michael "Mike" Curtis (born March 27, 1943 in Rockville, Maryland) is a former professional American football player for the Baltimore Colts, the Seattle Seahawks and the Washington Redskins, who played 14 seasons from 1965 to 1978 in the National Football League. He was a four-time Pro Bowler in 1968, 1970, 1971 and 1974. He was considered one of the meanest players of his era. Although sacks were not official, Curtis was a good blitzer, recording 22 sacks, including one in which a famous photograph was taken of Curtis tackling Roman Gabriel's head. Curtis also picked off 25 passes and was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Year in 1970 by a panel of 101 sportswriters.

Early career

Curtis went to Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland, and was a 195-pound fullback as a junior in 1959. He played college football at Duke University, where he was a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection. GoDuke.com selected Curtis to its All-Century Team in 2000. On Nov 14, 2013 Curtis was inducted into the Maryland State Athletic Hall Of Fame.

NFL career

Curtis was drafted as a fullback in the first round of the 1965 NFL Draft by the Colts, but later switched to linebacker on the weak side (away from the tight end). He was a team captain for most of his Baltimore career. In 1970, he had five interceptions and that same season made a key pass theft that set up the game-winning field goal in the Colts' Super Bowl V win over the Dallas Cowboys. He and Ted Hendricks, member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, formed a potent tandem at the linebacker position from 1969 to 1973, after which Hendricks was traded. Curtis was named the Colts' Most Valuable Player in 1974.

After a knee injury sidelined him for most of the 1975 season, he was left unprotected for the 1976 NFL Expansion Draft due to a personality conflict with general manager Joe Thomas. "I heard indirectly that I was in the expansion draft because Joe Thomas hated my guts," Curtis said. "Thomas could have had a first-round draft choice or better for me if he had wanted it."^[1] The move was made despite the objections of head coach Ted Marchibroda.^[2] Curtis was selected by the Seattle Seahawks.^[3] He played one season with them before retiring with the Redskins in 1978.

Book writing

Curtis wrote one book about his career, called Keep Off My Turf, in which he states that the New York Jets, who upset the Colts in Super Bowl III, "were lucky that day", and that the 1968 Colts were "twice as good as the Jets".

Personal life

One of his two sons is Ryan Curtis, a standout defender for the Virginia Cavaliers men's lacrosse team from 1997 to 2000 who also played eight seasons in Major League Lacrosse with the Boston Cannons (2001–2006, 2008) and Washington Bayhawks (2007). The younger Curtis has been the head coach of the Vermont Catamounts men's lacrosse team since September 15, 2006.^[4]

References

^ Seahawks by Doug Thiel, Sunrise Publishing Inc. Retrieved April 27, 2006

Mike Curtis: Canton in the Crosshairs by Michael Calabrese, MyHOFS.com Retrieved August 19, 2011

External links

Baltimore Colts Super Bowl V Champions

15 Earl Morrall 17 Sam Havrilak 19 Johnny Unitas 20 Jerry Logan 21 Rick Volk 27 Ray Perkins 28 Jimmy Orr 30 Ron Gardin 32 Mike Curtis 33 Eddie Hinton 34 Tom Nowatzke 35 Jim Duncan 36 Norm Bulaich 40 Jack Maitland 42 Tom Maxwell 45 Jerry Hill 47 Charles Stukes 49 David Lee 50 Bill Curry 51 Bob Grant 52 Robbie Nichols 54 Tom Goode 56 Ray May 60 George Wright 61 Cornelius Johnson 62 Glenn Ressler 71 Dan Sullivan 72 Bob Vogel 73 Sam Ball 74 Billy Ray Smith 75 John Williams 76 Fred Miller 78 Bubba Smith 80 Jim O'Brien 81 Billy Newsome 83 Ted Hendricks 84 Tom Mitchell 85 Roy Hilton 87 Roy Jefferson 88 John Mackey

Head Coach: Don McCafferty Coaches: Dick Bielski Bobby Boyd Hank Bullough John Idzik Lou Rymkus John Sandusky

1965 NFL draft first-round selections

Tucker Frederickson Ken Willard Dick Butkus Gale Sayers Craig Morton Steve DeLong Donny Anderson Jack Snow Clancy Williams Larry Elkins Tom Nowatzke Joe Namath George Donnelly Mike Curtis

Baltimore / Indianapolis Colts first-round draft picks

Vessels Davidson Shaw Ameche Moore Parker Lyles Burkett Mix Matte Harris Vogel Woodson Curtis Ball Smith Detwiler Williams Hinton Bulaich McCauley Dunlap Drougas Jones Ehrmann Dutton Carr Huff Novak Burke McCall Krauss Dickey Hatchett McMillan Thompson Cooks Schlichter Elway Coleman Solt Bickett Hand Bennett Rison George Emtman Coryatt Dawkins Faulk Alberts Ellis Johnson Harrison Glenn Manning James Morris Wayne Freeney Clark Jackson Addai Gonzalez Brown Hughes Castonzo Luck Werner Dorsett

AFC East BUF MIA NE NYJ North BAL CIN CLE PIT South HOU IND JAX TEN West DEN KC OAK SD NFC East DAL NYG PHI WAS North CHI DET GB MIN South ATL CAR NO TB West ARI LA SF SEA

Seattle Seahawks 1976 Inaugural Season Roster

Head coach: Jack Patera

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