Pervis Atkins

Pervis R. Atkins Jr. (November 24, 1935 – December 22, 2017) was an American football player.

Pervis Atkins
No. 27, 25, 39
Position:Running back / tight end
Personal information
Born:(1935-11-24)November 24, 1935
Ruston, Louisiana
Died:December 22, 2017(2017-12-22) (aged 82)
Los Angeles, California
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school:Oakland Tech
(Oakland, California)
College:New Mexico State
NFL Draft:1960 / Round: 3 / Pick: 30
AFL draft:1960 / Round: Second Selections
(by the Minneapolis AFL team)
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early years

Atkins was born in Ruston, Louisiana,[1] and raised in Oakland, California.[2] He graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1953.[3]

College football

After attending Santa Ana Junior College,[4] he played college football at New Mexico State University,[1] where he was a halfback, flanker, and placekicker. In 1959, he became the first of four straight New Mexico State University players to lead the nation in rushing yardage with 130 carries for 971 yards. He was the first New Mexico State University football player to be named to the Associated Press All-America first team.[5]

In 1959, Atkins led the nation in yards per carry (7.5), total points (107), and yards per punt return (17.7). As of December 2017, he still held New Mexico State University's records for yards per carry for a career (8.1), punt return average for a career (15.1), and punt return average for a season (21. 8).[6]

Professional football

He played professionally in the American Football League for the Oakland Raiders in 1965 and 1966. He had previously played for the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins. On April 30, 2009, Atkins was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.[7]

Show business

Also an actor and producer,[8] Atkins appeared in the 1974 feature film The Longest Yard,[1] the made-for-TV movie The Desperate Miles, and the 1976 pilot for the TV series Delvecchio, as well as a guest-starring role in an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man. He resided in Los Angeles until his death.[9]

Year Title Role Notes
1974The Longest YardMawabe

Death

On December 22, 2017, Atkins died in the Los Angeles area. He had been in an assisted-living facility and had suffered from dementia. He was 82 years old.[8]

gollark: What? There's tons of information on FPGAs.
gollark: I'm probably just going to be eternally stuck with advancing and somewhat bad modern computers plus random fiddling with other ones.
gollark: Which are still general purpose computers.
gollark: You aren't going to produce your own usably sized FPGA *or* recent CPU so it's probably most sensible to just go for really common and more practical devices.
gollark: FPGAs remain quite costly and niche.

See also

References
  1. Lentz, Harris M., III (2018). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2017. McFarland. p. 14. ISBN 9781476633183. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  2. "Ruston Slates Day to Honor Pervis Atkins". Hobbs Daily News-Sun. New Mexico, Hobbs. Associated Press. April 2, 1961. p. 7. Retrieved June 13, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Pervis Atkins, Class of 1953". School Historical Archive. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  4. "Pervis Atkins Signs With LA". Clovis News-Journal. New Mexico, Clovis. United Press International. January 2, 1961. p. 6. Retrieved June 13, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Aggie Star Congratulated on Honor". Statesman Journal. Oregon, Salem. Associated Press. December 3, 1960. p. 9. Retrieved June 13, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Aggie All-American from 1960 undefeated team Atkins dies at 82". Albuquerque Journal. New Mexico, Albuquerque. December 23, 2017. p. B 3. Retrieved June 14, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "("Pervis Atkins" search results)". College Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  8. Harrison, Randy (December 23, 2017). "All-American Atkins dies at 82". Albuquerque Journal. New Mexico, Albuquerque. p. B 1. Retrieved June 14, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "New Mexico State football great Pervis Atkins has died". Las Cruces Sun-News. Retrieved 2017-12-23.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.