Martin Ruby Martin Owen Ruby ( 1922 – 2002 ) was an offensive tackle and defensive tackle for the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers in the All - America Football Conference , New York Yanks of the National Football League , and the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Western Interprovincial Football Union . He resided in Waco , Texas , while he was a professional player . Texas A & M defensive tackle . He attended Texas A & M University , where he was a left tackle who wore # 74 . His first year as a varsity player was 1940 . He weighed 255 pounds . and 6 ' 4 " . Ruby was named the outstanding lineman in the Southwest Conference in 1941 . That year he led the Aggies to their second straight Cotton Bowl Classic appearance . against Fordham University . In 1942 Texas A & M played the University of Alabama in the Cotton Bowl Classic . Ruby played left tackle for the South All - Stars who defeated the North , 24 - 7 , in the North - South football game , on December 30 , 1944 . He was named captain of the Gray squad for the Blue - Gray Football Classic in December 1945 . Ruby was selected as the captain of the College All - Stars for the 1946 College All - Star Game . The All - Stars played the Los Angeles Rams at Soldier Field , in August . Ruby placed second to Elroy Hirsch of the University of Wisconsin – Madison in voting for the most valuable player in the game . The All - Stars defeated the Rams 16 - 0 . Military service . He was sworn into the service at halftime of the 1942 Cotton Bowl Classic . Ruby spent four and a half years in the Army Air Force . He attained the rank of captain , was awarded a Presidential Citation , and two battle stars . In December 1944 Ruby was a tackle for the Randolph Field Ramblers , the best service team in Texas during World War II . They played the Second Air Force Superbombers of Colorado Springs in the Treasury Bond Bowl , at the Polo Grounds . He also played for the Hawaiian Flyers in 1945 . World War II gave Ruby a third chance to play in the Cotton Bowl Classic , and an opportunity to defeat the University of Texas , which Texas A & M had not beaten since 1939 . The Randolph Field Ramblers played the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl Classic . All - America Football Conference career . Ruby was selected by the Chicago Bears in the annual draft of college football players , in Chicago , Illinois , on December 22 , 1941 . He played his first professional game for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Cleveland Browns . The Browns won 26 - 7 at Cleveland Stadium on October 6 , 1946 . Ruby helped account for the Dodgers ' only score by recovering a Cliff Lewis fumble on the Browns ' 6 - yard - line , in the 3rd Quarter . Ruby recovered an Andy Dudish fumble early in the 1st Quarter during a November loss to the Buffalo Bisons . Ruby was named to the 1946 All - Pro second team picked by the Associated Press , on December 12 . He was chosen , along with Bruiser Kinard , as one of two outstanding tackles named to the 1946 United Press All - America Conference All - Star Team . Ruby signed a three - year contract with Dodgers ' general manager , Freddie Fitzsimmons , in March 1947 . He had surgery for floating cartilage in his right knee at St . Vincent ' s Hospital , in December 1948 . The Dodgers and New York Yankees merged in January 1949 , reducing the AAFC to seven teams . The Yankee - Dodger aggregation played its home games in Yankee Stadium . Ruby scored a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills ( AAFC ) in September 1949 . In a Brooklyn - New York 17 - 14 win , Frank Perantoni batted down a pass thrown by George Ratterman , at Civic Stadium . Ruby caught the ball and ran four yards into the end zone . NFL tackle . The AAFC folded following the 1949 season . The Browns , 49ers , and Colts moved into the NFL for the 1950 season . The remainder of the AAFC players were taken by the NFL via draft . The New York Bulldogs changed their name to the New York Yanks . Ruby signed with the Yanks in 1950 as one of the players the team received from the AAFC Yankees . In October 1950 Ruby sacked Quarterback Frankie Albert of the San Francisco 49ers for a safety near halftime of a game at Yankee Stadium . New York won the game , 29 - 24 , in a come from behind victory . Ruby jarred the ball from Tobin Rote of the Green Bay Packers during an October 20 contest in New York . The ball was recovered for a 1st Quarter touchdown by Jack Russell of the Yanks . Saskatchewan Roughriders . In July 1951 Yanks ' owner , Ted Collins , initiated legal action against Ruby and guard George Brown . Both had signed contracts to play in Canada . One of Ruby ' s opponents , Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Jackie Parker , was a rookie out of the University of Tennessee . He reflected about his fear of Ruby in a 1972 " Winnipeg Free Press " article . Parker ' s coach , Pop Ivy , instructed his staff to study film in hopes of finding a weakness in Ruby ' s game . The coaches found a tendency in the way Ruby positioned his left foot when he lined up in a three point stance . When he intended to come straight ahead the tackle placed his left foot forward . When he wanted to cut left he positioned his left foot back . One of Parker ' s teammates , Johnny Bright , did not think the advance scouting of Ruby helped the Eskimos very much . After getting smashed for a loss by Ruby , Bright grumbled in the huddle , " I guess we gotta learn to live with him . " Ruby was ejected from a September 1951 game with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for slugging Dick Pinkston near the end of the first half . Ruby was selected as one of six Roughriders named to the 1956 Canadian Press Western Interprovincial Football Union All - StarTeam . Players were chosen by football writers and coaches in the league cities . Ruby and a teammate , defensive back Larry Isbell , barely missed taking an ill - fated Vancouver to Montreal Trans - Canada Airlines plane which experienced engine failure above Hope , British Columbia , on December 10 , 1956 . They had tickets on the following flight to Montreal after passing on the earlier flight . The missing plane ' s pilot turned back at Princeton , British Columbia , while facing snow and ice . The Trans Canada airliner , carrying 62 people , went down in the Chilliwack Mountain region of British Columbia . Ruby had just finished playing in the East – West All - Star Game . He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1974 . Coach . In January 1965 Ruby was named head line coach by the University of Tulsa . He had coached earlier at Baylor University and Texas A & M University .