Bucky Curtis

No. 85
Curtis at Vanderbilt
Born:	3/3/1929 Virginia
Died:	10/24/2019 Louisville, Kentucky
Career information
Position(s)	End/Defensive back
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	215 lb (98 kg)
College	Vanderbilt
High school	Riverside Military Academy
NFL draft	1951 / Round: 2 / Pick: 26
Drafted by	Cleveland Browns
Career history
As player
1947–1950	Vanderbilt Commodores
1951	Cleveland Browns
1955–1956	Toronto Argonauts
Career highlights and awards
First-team All-American (1950) Senior Bowl MVP (1951) Vandy Athletics Hall of Fame RMA Sports Hall of Fame

Ernest Jackson "Bucky" Curtis, Jr. was an American football player for the Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University. He led the nation in several receiving categories in 1950 including a 29.3 yard average per reception,^[1] and was selected as an All-American. The team's quarterback was Bill Wade. Curtis was then drafted in the second round of the 1951 NFL draft by the defending NFL champion Cleveland Browns. Curtis made the Browns for the 1951 season, but was drafted for service in the Korean War before the season started.^[2] Curtis served his four years in the Navy, expecting to be signed by the Browns for the upcoming 1955 season. When he and the Browns had trouble reaching a contract, he signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. He was elected to the Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.^[1]

Early years

Curtis attended Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Georgia from 1943 to 1947, where his father was a teacher. His father gave later Vanderbilt coach Red Sanders his first coaching job.^[3] Bucky is a member of the school's sports Hall of Fame.^[4]

On why the nickname "Bucky", Curtis explained "When I was a youngster, I asked for it as a nickname because there was a football player at Notre Dame named Bucky O'Connor. He played for the Irish in the mid-1940s and was kind of my hero. And I never outgrew the nickname."^[3]