He was an unusual receiver in his time, being 6'3" and having rare leaping ability. If you think about it, the Alley Oop play was the precursor of the current Hail Mary pass; it was just thrown from the 10 or 20 yard line instead of the 50. I guess it evolved into that over the years.
Not a guy who was known for being a star in the NFL but quite an amazing story Bob Chappuis former University of Michigan star passed away at 89. He left Michigan after his Soph season to fight in WWII, his plane was shot down over Italy but an anti Nazi family took him in and hid him from the Germans for 2 years while the war was being fought. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/s...layer-rescued-in-world-war-ii-dies-at-89.html
Yes, quite incredible. I think I need to find that book mentioned in the article. Seems like it would be full of amazing stories like it. It was a much different time when essentially every athlete either college or pro were Pat Tillmans.