Leroy Keyes

Rushing att–yards:	125–369
Receptions–yards:	30–270
Touchdowns:	3

Leroy Keyes
No. 20, 23
Position:	1969 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3
Career history
	Philadelphia Eagles (1969–1972); Kansas City Chiefs (1973);
Career highlights and awards
	Chicago Tribune Silver Football (1967); 2× Unanimous All-American (1967, 1968); 2× First-team All-Big Ten (1967, 1968); Second-team All-Big Ten (1966);
Career NFL statistics
Rushing att–yards:
Rushing att–yards:	125–369
Receptions–yards:	30–270
Touchdowns:	3
	Player stats at NFL.com · PFR
	College Football Hall of Fame

Marvin Leroy Keyes (February 18, 1947 – April 15, 2021) was an American professional

strong safety

.

College career

Keyes played

national champion Notre Dame, Keyes made his presence known by returning a fumble 94 yards for a touchdown

. He played in the January 1967 Rose Bowl game, which Purdue won 14–13 over USC.

He was a dynamic player running and catching the ball. He finished his career running for 2,090 yards and also had 1,204 receiving yards.[1]

In 1967, he led the nation in scoring as he rushed for 986 yards with 13 touchdowns and had 45 catches for 758 yards and 6 touchdowns. As a senior in 1968, he followed it up by running for 1,003 yards and 14 touchdowns while catching 33 passes for 428 yards and 1 touchdown.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Keyes was drafted by the

1969 NFL Draft. He played for the Eagles from 1969–1972. He was considered the "consolation prize" by the Eagles, who had just lost out to the Buffalo Bills to draft O. J. Simpson with the first overall pick. Conversely, Keyes was drafted one pick ahead of Joe Greene; both Simpson and Greene would go on to the Pro Football Hall of Fame while Keyes is generally considered a bust

.

He started out as a running back [2] and had 637 total yards on offense including 3 rushing touchdowns as a rookie. He saw little playing time in 1970 and was moved to strong safety in 1971, where he made 6 interceptions and recovered 3 fumbles. The next year (1972), he had 2 interceptions in 14 starts before going to Kansas City.

Kansas City Chiefs

Keyes played for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1973.

After football

Keyes worked for the John Purdue Club until he became an assistant athletic director for the Purdue Boilermakers.

Keyes was a member of

The Pigskin Club Of Washington, D.C.

, as well as the National Intercollegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll.

In 1987, Keyes was inducted into the

Purdue Football", as chosen by online fan voting. Keyes was joined in the honor by Drew Brees, Bob Griese, and Rod Woodson

.

Keyes died on April 15, 2021, in West Lafayette, after several months of suffering from a recurrence of cancer and congestive heart failure. Keyes was survived by his wife Monica and children Colin, Raymond, Jacqueline and Courtland.[3]

References

^ "Leroy Keyes College Stats".
^ "Leroy Keyes Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
^ "Leroy Keys | died | Purdue football". 15 April 2021.

[1] "Leroy Keyes College Stats".

[2] "Leroy Keyes Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

[3] "Leroy Keys | died | Purdue football". 15 April 2021.

v t e 1967 College Football All-America Team consensus selections
Offense	B Gary Beban B Larry Csonka B Leroy Keyes B O. J. Simpson E Dennis Homan E Ron Sellers OT Edgar Chandler OT Ron Yary G Rich Stotter G Harry Olszewski C Bob Johnson
Defense	DL Dennis Byrd DL Ted Hendricks DL Granville Liggins DL Wayne Meylan DL Tim Rossovich LB Don Manning LB Adrian Young DB Dick Anderson DB Bobby Johns DB Frank Loria DB Tom Schoen

v t e 1968 College Football All-America Team consensus selections
Offense	QB Terry Hanratty B Chris Gilbert B Leroy Keyes B O. J. Simpson E Jerry LeVias E Ted Kwalick T Dave Foley T George Kunz G Charles Rosenfelder G Jim Barnes G Mike Montler C John Didion
Defense	DL Joe Greene DL Ted Hendricks DL Chuck Kyle DL Bill Stanfill DL Ed White DL John Zook LB Steve Kiner LB Dennis Onkotz LB Mike Ballou DB Jake Scott DB Roger Wehrli DB Al Worley