Dick Hoerner Lester Junior " Dick " Hoerner ( July 25 , 1922 – December 11 , 2010 ) was an American football player . He played fullback for the University of Iowa in 1942 and 1946 and for the Los Angeles Rams from 1947 to 1951 . He helped lead the Rams to three consecutive National Football League championship games from 1949 to 1951 , played for the 1951 Los Angeles Rams team that won the 1951 NFL Championship Game , and was selected to play in the inaugural 1951 Pro Bowl . He was the Rams ' all - time leading rusher at the end of his playing career with the team . He concluded his professional football career as a member of the Dallas Texans in 1952 . Iowa . A native of Dubuque , Iowa , Hoerner was a state track champion while attending Dubuque High School . He also led Dubuque to Mississippi Valley Conference championships in 1939 and 1940 and was twice selected as an All - Iowa player . He enrolled at the University of Iowa in 1941 and played for the Iowa Hawkeyes football team as a sophomore in 1942 . He ran 88 yards for a touchdown against Fritz Crisler ' s 1942 Michigan Wolverines . In May 1943 , Hoerner was inducted into the U . S . Army . After missing three years due to war - time service , including service overseas in the field artillery , Hoerner returned to the Iowa Hawkeyes football team in 1946 . Los Angeles Rams . Hoerner was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams and played for the team from 1947 through 1951 . After he signed with the Rams , the " Los Angeles Times " touted his potential : " When you find a 6 - foot , 4 - inch , 220 - pounder that can move , you have something . But when you run across one who is downright fast , can handle himself like a 160 - pounder and can kick and pass to boot , they you have Lester ( Dick ) Hoerner , the Los Angeles Rams ' great fullback prospect . " As a rookie in 1947 , he was sidelined by a broken foot in an October 1947 game against the Chicago Cardinals . In 1948 , Hoerner was the Ram ' s leading rusher with 354 yards and average of 4 . 7 yards per carry that ranked 4th in the NFL . In a November 1948 game against the New York Giants , he tied a club record with three rushing touchdowns and was described as " unstoppable . " Hoerner also played linebacker for the Rams . In December 1948 , the " Los Angeles Times " wrote that Hoerner was a " 6 foot 4 inch speedster " and " a murderous line backer . " In June 1949 , Hoerner signed a 1949 contract with the Rams . The " Los Angeles Times " reported that he was both the fastest man on the team and " by far the hardest hitting . " The " Times " noted that Hoerner had been " coveted by more rival National Football League clubs than any other member of the Los Angeles Rams . " He helped lead the Rams to the 1949 NFL Championship Game , led all fullbacks in rushing during the 1949 NFL season and ranked among the league ' s leaders in rushing yards ( 6th , 582 yards ) and yards from scrimmage ( 7th , 795 yards ) . In 1950 , Hoerner helped lead the Rams to their second consecutive NFL championship game . He scored 11 touchdowns , the second highest total in the NFL , and was selected to play in the inaugural 1951 Pro Bowl . He also totaled 827 yards from scrimmage in 1950 , with 381 rushing yards and 446 receiving yards . In November 1950 , Frank Finch of the " Los Angeles Times " wrote : " Many stars have twinkled for the Rams this season , but none more brilliantly than Dick Hoerner . Off the field the 220 - yard Ram fullback wears glasses , but on the field he wears a mean expression with a disposition to match . " In the 1950 NFL Championship Game , Hoerner scored two touchdowns and accounted for 86 of the Rams ' 106 rushing yards , but the Rams lost in a close game to the Cleveland Browns by the score of 30 - 28 . After the 1950 season , the " Los Angeles Times " wrote that , although he had been dogged by injuries in 1947 and 1948 , " the giant Hoerner has been probably the hardest running fullback in the league since . " In his final year with the Rams , Hoerner helped lead the 1951 Rams to the NFL championship as part of the Rams ' famed " Bull Elephant " backfield along with Paul " Tank " Younger and " Deacon " Dan Towler . Hoerner rushed for 569 yards in 1951 , ranking 7th in the NFL . He also averaged 6 . 1 yards per carry , the 4th best average in the league , and scored a touchdown in the 1951 NFL Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns . Tank Younger , who in 1949 became the first NFL player from a historically black college , recalled that Hoerner pitched in unselfishly to help Younger learn Clark Shaughnessy ' s offensive system , even though they were both competing for the same position . Interviewed in 1970 , Younger noted , " I used to go up to Dick ' s room every afternoon to study the offensive formation and the terminology . Dick helped me a great deal . " After five seasons with the Rams , Hoerner was the team ' s all - time career leader with 2 , 020 rushing yards . He also held the Rams ' record for most rushing attempts in a season ( 455 attempts in 1949 ) and ranked second in team history in touchdowns scored in a single season behind Elroy " Crazy Legs " Hirsch . Dallas Texans . In June 1952 , Hoerner was traded to the newly formed Dallas Texans as part of an 11 - for - 1 deal that sent Les Richter to the Rams . The trade was described as " unquestionably the biggest shift of pigskin personnel in National Football League history . " When Hoerner returned to Los Angeles as a member of the Texans , he expressed his desire to prove that the Rams had erred in trading him : " Hoerner gladly would sacrifice his right arm all the way up to the armpit to squash a few Rams and score a couple of touchdowns by way of informing the Ram high command that they were plain loco when they cut him loose . And as an added incentive to make his personal crusade , the terrible - tempered neo - Texan has all the warm affection for his old backfield coach , J . Hampton Pool , that a cobra has for a mongoose . " The Texans compiled a record of 1 – 11 – 0 in 1952 , and Hoerner rushed for 162 yards and a career - low 2 . 9 yards per carry . After only one season , the Dallas Texans folded , and Hoerner signed in the spring of 1953 with the Detroit Lions . However , Hoerner retired from football in July 1953 before appearing in any regular season games with the Lions . Later years . After retiring from football , Hoerner went into business in Southern California where he specialized in turning around struggling businesses , taking them " out of the red and into the black . " Hoerner died in December 2010 at age 88 after suffering a stroke . He was survived by his wife , Kathy , daughters , Cecilia Hoerner , Leslie Hoerner , and Louise Hubbard , five grandchildren and four great - grandchildren .