Ohio State RB Tandem And Their Impactful NFL Careers
Two Ohio State backfield mates who became impactful NFL players.
Two Ohio State football players shared the same backfield on the 1961 national championship team. Both players went on to play on Super Bowl winning teams as a pro and each made a big impact on the NFL. One of them impacted the league before he was even in the NFL.
Paul Warfield played left halfback in coach Woody Hayes’ T Formation offense and Matt Snell was the right halfback for Ohio State in 1961. Warfield went on to have a Hall of Fame career as a wide receiver and was an important cog on the NFL’s only undefeated Super Bowl winning team. Matt Snell put on a show in his lone Super Bowl that shocked the professional football world.
First let’s take a look at the wide receiver whose stellar play was described as “Poetry in Motion”. Paul Warfield:
Warfield made an impact on the NFL immediately for the Cleveland Browns. His rookie season he caught 52 passes for 920 yards and 9 touchdowns. That was in a day when NFL quarterbacks weren’t slinging the ball all over the field.
The Browns won the NFL Championship in 1964 and made it to the title game in four of Warfield’s first six seasons in the league. In 1968, he had 50 receptions and set his career highs in receiving yards (1,067) and touchdowns (12). After Warfield had another outstanding season in 1969, came the trade that broke Browns fans’ hearts.
In 1970, Cleveland traded Warfield to Miami for the rights to draft quarterback Mike Phipps. The Browns players were aging, Phipps never became a star and Cleveland began their slide soon after the trade.
Down south, new head coach Don Shula was building Miami into one of the greatest teams in NFL history, and Paul Warfield was instrumental in the Dolphins’ success.
Coach Shula was developing a rushing attack that was second to none and had most of the pieces in place. Fullback Larry Csonka and halfbacks Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris were already on the roster. He needed a deep threat to loosen up opposing defenses and he couldn’t have found a better one than Paul Warfield.
Warfield’s reception total dropped to 25 his first year in Miami, but he averaged an unbelievable 25.1 yards per catch. The defense always had to account for him or the Dolphins could have a one play drive at any time.
Miami’s improved to 10-4 in 1970 and made the playoffs. They were AFC Champions the following year losing to the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl. And then, there was the magical undefeated season of 1972.
While the Dolphins were becoming the first and only Super Bowl winner to go undefeated, Warfield posted his seventh consecutive season averaging over 20 yards per reception. His big play ability in the passing game loosened up opposing defenses so well, it allowed Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris to be the first teammates in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards apiece in a season.
The Dolphins repeated as Super Bowl champions in 1973. Following the 1974 season, Warfield jumped to the newly formed World Football League, but returned to the NFL in 1976 to play his final two seasons with the Cleveland Browns.
Paul Warfield’s career stats are impressive to say the least. He caught 427 passes for 8,565 yards and 85 touchdowns. His 20.1 yards per catch average is tied for the fourth best ever in the NFL.
In 1983, Warfield was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Woody Hayes’ Ohio State halfback turned wide receiver really did become “Poetry in Motion”. And Paul Warfield certainly made a big impact in the NFL.
The performance by this next guy helped change the way people viewed the Super Bowl forever.