Creighton Miller Creighton Miller ( September 26 , 1922 – May 22 , 2002 ) was an American football player and attorney . As an attorney , he played a role in organizing the National Football League Players Association ( NFLPA ) , the union that represents players in the National Football League . He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 1976 . Miller was born in Cleveland , Ohio and was the seventh member of his family to play football at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend , Indiana . He was a star halfback for a Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team that won the national championship in 1943 . Miller was named an All - America n that year , finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting and led the nation in rushing yards , with 911 . Miller was drafted by the Brooklyn Tigers of the National Football League ( NFL ) but did not play professionally because of high blood pressure . He coached briefly at Notre Dame and as an assistant in 1946 for the Cleveland Browns in the All - America Football Conference before becoming a lawyer practicing in Cleveland . Working with Browns players including Dante Lavelli and Abe Gibron , he helped found the NFLPA in 1956 and served as its first legal counsel . He stayed in the position until 1968 , the same year the union was recognized by the NFL . Miller continued to practice law in Cleveland , specializing in maritime and asbestos litigation , until his death in 2002 . Early life and college career . Miller was born in Cleveland , Ohio , into a family of athletes . He attended DuPont High School in Wilmington , Delaware , and was the seventh member of his family to play football at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend , Indiana . Harry Miller , his father , was an All - America n halfback at the school and the captain of the Fighting Irish football team in 1908 . One of his uncles , Don Miller , was part of the dominant 1924 Notre Dame backfield nicknamed the Four Horsemen . His brother Tom played with him at the school in 1941 and 1942 . Miller was named after Creighton University , where his father was coaching when he was born . Miller was a standout halfback at Notre Dame under head coach Frank Leahy starting in 1941 . He rushed for 151 yards in a 1942 game against Northwestern University , a single - game school record that stood until 1974 . In 1943 , he led the nation in rushing with 911 yards . He scored 13 touchdowns and came in fourth in Heisman Trophy voting as Notre Dame finished with a 9 – 1 win - loss record and won the national championship . He was named a consensus All - America n and was chosen to play in the College All - Star Game , a now - defunct annual matchup between the champions of the National Football League ( NFL ) and a squad of the best college players from around the country . As he succeeded on the field , Miller ' s independent streak became increasingly apparent . To Leahy ' s frustration , he skipped spring practices every year of his Notre Dame career to play golf , but the coach did not discipline Miller because he was the team ' s best halfback . Coaching and legal career . Miller was selected by the NFL ' s Brooklyn Tigers with the third pick in the 1944 NFL Draft . High blood pressure , however , forced him to discontinue athletic activities . He stayed at Notre Dame in 1944 to coach and study law . The following year , Miller took a job as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Browns , a team in the new All - America Football Conference coached by Paul Brown . By the time he was hired by Browns owner Arthur B . McBride , whose son attended Notre Dame , he was studying law at Yale University and was a backfield coach for the school ' s football team . Miller was the team ' s first hire , and joined the Browns on August 1 , 1946 . He returned to Yale Law School at the end of the year , after the Browns won the AAFC championship . Miller coached with the Browns for one year , drawing a $ 5 , 200 salary ( $ in dollars ) that helped pay for law school . After graduating , he became an attorney practicing in Cleveland and was the Browns ' legal counsel until McBride sold the team in 1953 . In 1954 , Browns end Dante Lavelli and guard Abe Gibron approached Miller about forming a union to represent players in the NFL , to which the Browns had moved in 1950 . NFL salaries had gone up in the late 1950s compared to the decade before , but owners ' profits were rising at an even more rapid rate as the sport gained in popularity . Players complained about not receiving salaries for exhibition games or pre - season training camp s to which more than 60 men often participated but only 36 came away with roster spots . Major League Baseball players already had a players ' union , and Lavelli and Gibron thought the NFL should have a similar organization advocating for their interests . Lavelli , Gibron , Miller and Browns quarterback George Ratterman met in Lavelli ' s basement in Rocky River , Ohio , on Wednesday nights to discuss the union idea . The men also met at Miller ' s office in downtown Cleveland . After two years of discussions and recruitment , they found 370 NFL players willing to support a union ; the only holdouts were members of the Chicago Bears who were loyal to owner George Halas . In November 1956 , Miller , along with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Norm Van Brocklin and New York Giants end Kyle Rote announced the formation of the National Football League Players Association ( NFLPA ) . The NFLPA demanded that players receive a $ 5 , 000 minimum annual salary and be paid during training camp and while unable to play due to football injury . The owners made some concessions , but refused to recognize the union . Miller threatened to sue the league under anti - trust laws in 1957 unless owners recognized the union . He testified before the U . S . Congress in NFL anti - trust hearings that players were " mousetrapped " by the owners into disadvantageous contracts . Miller earned $ 1 , 000 a year to advocate for the union , a salary some players said in 1960 was unjustified because of his tense relations with NFL owners and failure to get the union recognized . In 1967 , retired Browns defensive back Bernie Parrish said Miller did not do enough to meet the players ' demands and Parrish tried to form his own union . Miller served as the NFLPA ' s lawyer until 1968 , when he resigned to focus on representing individual players as an agent negotiating contracts . The NFL officially recognized the union later in the year when the two sides negotiated their first collective bargaining agreement . Cleveland coach Paul Brown disliked Miller so much for his work with the NFLPA that he had him scrubbed from the Browns ' 1946 team picture . Later career and death . Later in his career , Miller was a maritime law and asbestos law specialist , and represented Cleveland native George Steinbrenner ' s American Shipbuilding Company in the 1960s . An avid golfer , Miller won the Shaker Country Club championship seven times . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 1976 . Miller was found dead of a heart attack in 2002 after he failed to report to his law offices . He never married .