page_title: Steve Van Buren
section_title: Legacy, honors, and later life
hierarchical_section_title: Steve Van Buren / Legacy, honors, and later life
caption_attribution_description: English: National Football League player Steve Van Buren on a 1952 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: Van Buren retired as the NFL record holder for career rushing yards and career rushing touchdowns. He was the first player to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season twice, and he held the top two single-season records in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. He was the first to rush for over ten touchdowns in a season, a feat he accomplished three times before any other player did so once. He was the last Eagles player to win the rushing title until LeSean McCoy led the league in rushing yards in 2013. As of 2019, he remains the Eagles' career leader in rushing touchdowns.
  In 1950, Van Buren was selected by the Associated Press for an all-time Southeastern Conference team, which honored the best 11 players in the conference's then 17-year existence. He was inducted into the Louisiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1944 and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1961.
  
  He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the class of 1965, which also included Guy Chamberlain, Paddy Driscoll, Dan Fortmann, Otto Graham, Sid Luckman, and Bob Waterfield. He was the first Eagles player to be inducted. Clarke Hinkle presented him with the honor at the induction ceremony. Van Buren's acceptance speech consisted of four sentences:
  Thank you Clarke Hinkle, I'm certainly glad to have broken your record. Since you people can't hear too good and I'm not too good a speaker I won't say much, but it's a great honor to be here. The two days I've spent in Canton will certainly bring me back every year from now on. Thank you very much.
  Van Buren's jersey number 15 was later retired by the Eagles. He is also a member of the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. In 2007, he was named to the Eagles 75th Anniversary Team as the starting running back. Van Buren is a member of the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team, which honors the best players from the decade, and the National Football League 75th Anniversary All-Time Team as one of the best players in the league's first 75 years.
  Van Buren lived quietly in Lancaster, Pennsylvania after his football career, where he ran an antiques shop with his son-in-law. He also owned a used-car lot and a dance hall. His wife, Grace, died in 1978. Van Buren died of pneumonia on August 23, 2012, in Lancaster at the age of 91.
caption: Van Buren depicted in 1952
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