Mack Herron

Mack Willie Herron (July 24, 1948 – December 6, 2015) was a professional American football running back who played in the National Football League from 1973 to 1976. He played college football at Kansas State, where he finished second in the nation in scoring during his senior season in 1969.

Standing 5 feet 5 1⁄₂ inches (1.66 metres) and weighing in at 170 pounds (77.1 kg), Herron was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the sixth round (143rd overall) of the 1970 NFL Draft, but joined the Canadian Football League out of college.

In 1972, while playing for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, he won the Eddie James Memorial Trophy for being the leading rusher in the CFL's West Division. He led the league in all-purpose yards in both of his CFL seasons.

Herron moved up to the NFL in 1973, when he joined the New England Patriots. He later played for the Atlanta Falcons. In three seasons, he gained 1,298 rushing yards and scored 9 rushing touchdowns. He also caught 61 passes in his career for 789 yards and 6 touchdowns.

After leading the NFL in kickoff returns and kickoff return yardage in 1973, Herron's best season was 1974 with the Patriots, when he set the then-NFL record for all-purpose yards with 2,444. He remains 16th all time in career punt return average and 86th in kickoff return average. In 2009, he was named by the Patriots Hall of Fame nomination committee to the Patriots All-Decade Team for the 1970s as a kick returner.

Herron, a devout Muslim who did not drink or smoke, was arrested some 20 times and served jail time, mainly on drug convictions, according to Chicago Police. He died on December 6, 2015 at the age of 67.