Buddy Young Claude " Buddy " Young ( January 5 , 1926 – September , 1983 ) was an American football player . A native of Chicago , the 5 ' 4 " Claude " Buddy " Young , also known as the " Bronze Bullet , " had exceptional quickness and acceleration . He is one of the shortest men ever to play NFL football . As a track star at the University of Illinois , he won the National Collegiate Championships in the 100 and 220 - yard dash , tied the world record for the 45 and 60 - yard dashes , and was the Amateur Athletic Union ' s 100 - meter champion . Buddy was Illinois state champ in the 100 - yard dash , and at the University of Illinois , he was the NCAA champion in the 100 and tied the world record ( 6 . 1 ) in the 60 - yard dash . Young was as impressive on the gridiron as on the track . He received scholarship offers from several schools , including the University of Michigan , Drake University , Marquette University and the University of Illinois . He chose Illinois and established himself as a star immediately . In his first game for the Illini , he scampered 64 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage . On his second carry , he ran for a 30 - yard touchdown . In all , in his debut he gained 139 yards on 7 carries , an average of 19 . 7 yards . Before the season concluded , he scored 10 touchdowns equaling the Big Ten Conference record established by the immortal Red Grange in 1924 . These unusual early successes brought the freshman running back national attention . " Not since the days when Red Grange was ripping up the sod . . . for Bob Zuppke and the Illini has there been so much pigskin excitement on the University of Illinois Campus . " Sportscaster Bill Stern called him " The fastest thing in cleats and the runner of the year . " Ray Eliot , Young ' s coach , referred to him as " The best running back I have ever seen . " Only a freshman , Young was named to several All - America teams . Football , like other aspects of American life , had to endure wartime hardships . Manpower difficulties forced NFL teams to reduce their rosters from 33 to 25 . Some colleges ended football programs for the duration . And most college players had their education and playing days interrupted by wartime commitments . Young was no different . In late January 1945 , Young was drafted by the Navy . Initially he reported to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station , but was eventually transferred to the naval base at Fleet City , California . Like many star athletes , Young played football for a service team ; he didn ' t let the draft stop him from playing the game he loved . Coast service teams , one writer claimed , " unquestionably played the toughest football extant during the war . The personnel of the league were 30 percent All - American , 30 percent professional and 40 percent better than the average college squad . " In mid - December , the top two coast service teams met for the championship . In an earlier contest the Bluejackets , Buddy ' s team , had prevailed 7 - 0 . The championship game was played in Los Angeles at Memorial Stadium before 65 , 000 fans . It was one of Buddy Young ' s greatest games . After a scoreless first quarter , Young returned a kickoff for a 94 yard touchdown , he ran back another kickoff for an 88 yard touchdown , and took a hand - off from O ' Rourke and scampered 30 yards for a third . The Bluejackets won the game 45 - 28 to complete an unbeaten season . They challenged the unbeaten West Point team , but the cadets refused the invitation . Young ' s performance won accolades from players , coaches , writers , and fans . Charlie O ' Rourke still talks excitedly about the game and Young ' s ability . An opponent stated that he had " never seen his equal " and Aldo Forte remarked : " I ' ve seen the greatest in pro football . None can compare with Young . " El Toro coach Dick Hanley , who had coached Northwestern , called Young " the greatest college back I ' ve ever seen . " Bluejackets Coach Bill Reinhart declared that he had " never seen anything like Buddy Young . " Sports columnist Slip Madigan also considered Young superior to Blanchard and Davis . And comedian Bob Hope observed : " I ' d heard of black magic . . . now I ' ve seen it ! " Rumors circulated that once Young fulfilled his service obligation he would be drafted by the NFL or lured to UCLA to play for the Bruins . Neither proved true . Young returned to the University of Illinois and helped the Illini in the 1947 Rose Bowl , where he was named Co - Player of the Game , after Illinois hammered UCLA , 45 - 14 . World War II proved a major boom to sports integration . Not only did the war promote the ideals of democracy and fair play , it also gave blacks a chance to showcase their talents on college , semi - professional and service teams . In football , three of the most talented minority athletes during the war years were Bill Willis , Marion Motley and Young . Buddy was one of the first black men to play pro football ; he played on teams where he was typically one of two or three black players , and undoubtedly he had his rough spots , but his warm , bubbling personality carried him through , and made him immensely popular . Young played ten years in pro football . In 1947 , he signed with the New York Yankees of the All - America Football Conference . In 1950 , Young , along with many of the other Yankee players , joined the New York Yanks of the National Football League . The Yanks folded after the 1951 NFL season and Young was assigned to the Dallas Texans . The Texans also folded after the 1952 season and Young again was assigned to another team , this time the Baltimore Colts . Young retired from football after the 1955 season . Young was a threat at several positions : five times in his professional career , he eclipsed 1 , 000 all purpose yards , and in 1954 , he was selected to the NFL Pro Bowl team . Over his ten year professional career , NFL and AAFL , Young averaged 4 . 6 yards per carry as a running back , over 15 yards per reception as a receiver , and almost 28 yards per kickoff return , peaking at a remarkable 34 . 4 yards per return for the Colts in 1953 . In a 1953 game against the Philadelphia Eagles , Young returned the opening kickoff 104 yards for a touchdown ; at the time , this was the second longest kickoff return in NFL history . Young was the first Colt to have his number retired and , in 1966 , the first African - American executive hired by the NFL . At his death in 1983 in a car crash , he was Director of Player Relations for the NFL . Through NFL record books list Young at 5 - 4 , 175 pounds , those who played alongside him said he probably was 10 pounds lighter and an inch shorter . But Young was a stocky cannonball of a running back with great speed and ability to change direction ; he was elusive and hard to hit . This made him a real crowd pleaser , and he attributed the length of his career to the fact that few people ever got a clear shot at him . Gino Marchetti , a Hall of Fame defensive end who played on the same Dallas and Baltimore Colts team as Young from 1952 to 1955 said , " Young , though well - built from the hips down , was so quick and fast he never really got hit that hard . That ' s what made him successful . He ' d see something coming and avoid it , or go with the flow . He had great ability to juke a guy . " " He was like a toy football player , " said Marchetti , " But he could do it all . He wasn ' t afraid to take on a defensive end blocking , wasn ' t afraid to lead a play . Young looked even smaller because of the gear he refused to wear . The most amazing thing about Buddy is he had no hip pads at that time , no thigh pads and played with a pair of shoulder pads you wouldn ' t let your son wear , and like so many players in that era , Young refused to wear a face mask . " Like former Broncos fan favorite Ed McCaffrey , who thought extra padding slowed him , Young took that notion to extremes . As the fastest player in his era - - he could run the 100 in 9 . 4 seconds - - no one could catch him . Not even a horse , which was demonstrated graphically in the 100 yard race between Young and the Colts mascot staged before a scrimmage at Baltimore ' s Memorial Stadium . " Buddy didn ' t want to do it . He thought he ' d be a freak show . But he ended up putting on a little show for them , " Marchetti said . " He was so quick , so fast , by the time the horse got going Buddy had him by 10 yards . " Buddy Young is a member of The Pigskin Club of Washington , D . C . National Intercollegiate All - American Football Players Honor Roll .