draftyear finalyear birth_place debutyear statvalue article_title position draftround college birth_date nfl number draftpick statlabel name
1976 1982 east grand forks , minnesota 1976 11 1.0 1 kurt knoff
 safety 2 kansas 6 april 1954 kno075507 25 43 -lrb- by the denver broncos -rrb- interceptions sacks fumble recoveries kurt knoff
kurt knoff

kurt l. knoff is a former american football safety who played in the national football league for the denver broncos , houston oilers and the minnesota vikings .
a graduate of east grand forks high school in east grand forks , minnesota , knoff was named the minnesota high school athlete of the year in 1972 .
he attended the university of kansas , excelling in football .
he was a 1975 all-american , who also played both baseball and basketball for the jayhawks .
he was named to ku 's all-time best football team by the `` lawrence journal-world '' .
one incident associated with kurt knoff is a play he made known as `` the hit '' .
in a game against oklahoma state at lawrence in '74 knoff came from the defensive backfield running full speed .
alfred nelms was also running full speed up the side-line as he had swept around the defensive line of ku and appeared headed for a touchdown , when suddenly knoff bolted up the field and ran head on into nelms in a horrible collision .
the entire stadium gasped all at once when the impact occurred .
if you could n't see `` the hit '' you could hear `` the hit '' .
when the players separated on the field there lay both nelms and knoff .
they were both knocked-out from the impact .
they both got up shortly after that and knoff played out the remainder of the game , but for ku athletics , it was a moment defined .
`` the hit '' went on to signify for future fans and players , what ` leaving it out on the field ' and ` giving it your all ' signify .
selected in the 2nd round of the 1976 nfl draft by the denver broncos , he did not sign with the team due to health concerns related to his knee .
he eventually signed with the houston oilers , and played for the team in 1977 and 1978 .
he was picked up by the minnesota vikings during the 1979 season , and intercepted a pass on his very first play with the team .
knoff spent a total of four years with the vikings , retiring before the start of the 1983 season .
during his professional football career , knoff spent his summer pursuing an mba degree from the university of kansas .
he was able to parlay this degree into a successful post-football career as a commercial real estate broker in minneapolis -- saint paul .
