page_title: Steve Van Buren
section_title: 1948 NFL Championship Game
hierarchical_section_title: Steve Van Buren / Professional career / 1947–1949: Three straight rushing titles / 1948 NFL Championship Game
caption_attribution_description: English: National Football League halfback Steve Van Buren depicted on a 1950 Bowman Gum football trading card with the Philadelphia Eagles
context_page_description: Stephen Wood Van Buren was a Honduran-American professional football player who was a halfback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League from 1944 to 1951. Regarded as a powerful and punishing runner with excellent speed, through eight NFL seasons he won four league rushing titles, including three straight from 1947 to 1949. At a time when teams played 12 games a year, he was the first NFL player to rush for over ten touchdowns in a season—a feat he accomplished three times—and the first to have multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons. When he retired, he held the NFL career records for rushing attempts, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns.
  Van Buren played college football for Louisiana State University, where he led the NCAA in scoring in his senior season for the LSU Tigers. After leading LSU to victory in the Orange Bowl, he was drafted by the Eagles with the fifth overall pick in the 1944 NFL Draft. Van Buren acquired many nicknames over his career in reference to his running style, including "Wham Bam", "Moving Van", and "Supersonic Steve".
context_section_description: Having posted similar offensive statistics in the regular season, the Eagles and Cardinals were expected to play a tight game. Played in a blizzard at Philadelphia's Shibe Park, the game's only score was a fourth quarter rushing touchdown by Van Buren from five yards out. The 7–0 win gave the Eagles their first league title. Van Buren finished with 98 yards on 26 carries, though he nearly missed the game entirely. Thinking the game would not be played in the blizzard, he remained home until coach Greasy Neale called him and told him the game was still on. He had to catch three trolleys and walk six blocks in order to make the game on time. "I looked out my bedroom window that morning, saw the snow and went back to bed," he later explained. "I was sure the game would be postponed."
caption: Van Buren depicted on a 1950 Bowman trading card
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