Clem Daniels

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Clem Daniels
No. 36, 35, 33
Position:Halfback
Personal information
Born:(1937-07-09)July 9, 1937
McKinney, Texas, U.S.
Died:March 23, 2019(2019-03-23) (aged 81)
Oakland, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school:Edward Sewell Daly
(McKinney, Texas)
College:Prairie View A&M
AFL draft:1960 / Round: Undrafted
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career AFL/NFL statistics
Rushing yards:5,138
Rushing average:4.5
Rushing touchdowns:30
Receptions:203
Receiving yards:3,314
Receiving touchdowns:24
Player stats at PFR

Clemon Daniels Jr.[1] (July 9, 1937 – March 23, 2019) was an American professional football halfback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL).[2]

College career

Daniels attended Doty High School, an all-black school in McKinney, Texas. His mother worked as a housekeeper to a bank chairman but one moment that stuck with Daniels was after a celebration of his scholarship offer to Prairie View A&M University. She told him that the next time he came by the chairman's house, he was to come through the back door.[3][4]

At

NAIA National Football Championship team in his senior year.[5]

He also completed the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Program at Prairie View A&M, later being a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve.

Professional career

Daniels was signed as a

predominantly black colleges, which were mainly ignored by the conservative NFL. He was on the Texans' roster for 14 games in 1960, but saw little playing time behind Abner Haynes. He saw a handful of returns while also playing the defensive side of the ball. In his first game against the Oakland Raiders on September 16, he recorded an interception for his very first statistic. He recorded two more interceptions on the year while returning nine kicks for 162 yards.[8]

In 1961, he was traded to the AFL's

American Football League Player of the Year.[12]

Daniels regressed the following year, which notably saw him rush for -1 yard on opening day against Boston. However, he ran for 824 yards on 173 carries with two touchdowns while catching 42 passes for 696 yards with six touchdowns.[13] The following year, he ran for 884 yards on 219 carries for five touchdowns while also catching 36 passes for 568 yards with seven touchdowns. In the All-Star Game that year that was targeted for play in January of 1965, Daniels served as a key voice in a boycott called by him and other fellow black players from playing the game in New Orleans due to discrimination, such as being refused service by a number of New Orleans hotels and businesses. The game was successfully moved to Houston.[14] Daniels ran for 801 yards on 204 carries in 1966 while scoring ten total touchdowns in his final All-Star selected year; in back-to-back weeks (October 30, November 6), he scored three touchdowns each.[15][16][17] Daniels ran for 575 yards on 130 carries with four touchdowns before he broke his leg in the November 23 game against the Kansas City Chiefs.[18] He missed the rest of the season, which saw the Raiders go all the way to Super Bowl II.[19] Daniels played sparingly in the 1968 season with the San Francisco 49ers, running for just 37 yards on 12 carries. He caught two passes for 23 yards in what became his final season.[20]

Post playing career

Daniels had spent his off-seasons teaching high school students in Dallas and Oakland. Daniels bought his first tavern in 1967. He soon became a member of the California State Packing Store and Tavern Owners Association (CAL-PAC). He later became president of the organization during a conflict with

Black Panthers. Conversations with Newton eventually led to a CAL-PAC scholarship program for high school students in the Bay Area.[21]

Legacy

Daniels retired as the all-time leading rusher in the American Football League with 5,138 yards. He was selected to the All-Time All-AFL Team.[22] He was the all-time leading rusher for the Raiders until he was passed by Mark van Eeghen over a decade after his retirement. Only two players have passed Daniels since then in Marcus Allen and Josh Jacobs.[23]

Daniels was voted into the Prairie View A&M University Sports Hall of Fame in 1989 and the California Black Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993. He was inducted into the Texas Football Hall of Fame in 1999.[24][25] Ron Wolf called Daniels “without doubt, the best halfback in the American Football League during his time...The thing that made Clem so good was his overall athletic ability. He ran a 4.6-40 in full gear, which was amazing for a guy his size.[26]

References

  1. ^ "Clem Daniels Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  2. ^ "Clem Daniels". databasefootball.com. Archived from the original on September 12, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2008.
  3. ^ "Raiders' Clem Daniels was more than just a football player". Las Vegas Review-Journal. August 8, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  4. ^ "Remembering Raiders legend Clem Daniels, the AFL's all-time leading rusher". NBC Sports Bay Area & California. March 27, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  5. ^ "Clem Daniels". summitbankfoundation.com. Archived from the original on March 30, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2008.
  6. ^ "Clem Danials". raidersonline.org. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2008.
  7. ^ "Prairie View A&M University's National Alumni Association Elects New President". black-collegian.com. 2006. Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2008.
  8. ^ "Clem Daniels 1960 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  9. ^ "Clem Daniels 1961 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  10. ^ "Clem Daniels 1962 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  11. ^ "Clem Daniels 1963 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  12. ^ "Clem Daniels". raidersonline.org. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2008.
  13. ^ "Clem Daniels 1964 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  14. ^ "Clem Daniels 1965 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  15. ^ "Clem Daniels Career Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  16. ^ "Clem Daniels 1966 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  17. ^ "Clem Daniels". summitbankfoundation.com. Archived from the original on March 30, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2008.
  18. ^ "Former Raiders star Clem Daniels dies at 83; if you only know about his football prowess, you're missing out". The Mercury News. March 26, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  19. ^ "Clem Daniels 1967 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  20. ^ "Clem Daniels 1968 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  21. ^ "Raider Nation mourns Clem Daniels, champion, teacher and community pillar". Las Vegas Raiders. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  22. ^ "American Football League ALL – TIME TEAM". remembertheafl.com. Retrieved October 21, 2008.
  23. ^ "Las Vegas Raiders Career Rushing Leaders". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  24. ^ "Clem Daniels". theraidercast.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2008.
  25. ^ "Clem Daniels (1989) - Prairie View A&M University Sports Hall Of Fame". Prairie View A&M University Athletics. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  26. ^ Judge, Clark (September 15, 2020). "State Your Case: Clem Daniels, "the best back in the AFL during his time"". Talk Of Fame. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
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