Athletes Until Signed Their First Contracts

Many icons of our society handed away throughout 2015, together with quite a lot of well-known athletes. Pro basketball gamers Moses Malone, Daryl Dawkins, and Dolph Schayes had been among the many Hall of Famers, along with the beloved Meadowlark Lemon of the Harlem Globetrotters.

 Major League Baseball misplaced Hall of Famers Yogi Berra of the Yankees and Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs, and the National Football League additionally misplaced a few of its esteemed household in 2015. Among the deceased final 12 months had been operating again Mel Farr and quarterback Ken Stabler, whose nickname was "The Snake."

Also misplaced was probably the most nicely-acknowledged kickers of the Seventies, Garo Yepremian of the Miami Dolphins. In spite of being a improbable kicker on Super Bowl champion groups, Yepremian might be higher bear in mind for a misplay within the 1972 AFC-NFC championship matchup towards the Washington Redskins.

The Dolphins led 14-zero when coach Don Shula despatched Yepremian to aim a subject aim that will put Miami up by one other three factors. After the kick was blocked, Yepremian picked up the ball and tried to cross it. As the ball slipped from his hand, Garo batted the ball earlier than it hit the bottom. Unfortunately, it landed within the arms of Washington defensive again Mike Bass, who returned all of it the way in which to the tip zone for a Redskins landing.

Another unlikely story regarding Yepremian is the place he was working when he signed his first professional soccer contract. He was working in his basement tie store in 1970 when the Dolphins found him, an unlikely place of employment for a future NFL star.

A handful of different well-known athletes had been working as day laborers once they signed on to play at or close to the skilled stage. Most outstanding might be NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird, who went on to win a number of championships with the Boston Celtics after having been working for a sanitation division when Indiana State University signed him.