Hall of Fame Honors for Glory Years RB Elijah Pitts

Elijah Pitts was part of all five of Vince Lombardi's Glory Years championship teams.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Jun 5, 2023 1:01 PM EDT

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Elijah Pitts, who scored two touchdowns in the Green Bay Packers’ victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I, will be inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame on Saturday in Atlanta.

The Packers selected Pitts in the 13th round of the 1961 NFL Draft out of Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark. – a school that no longer has a football program and sent only Pitts to the NFL.

Pitts started his Packers career as a captain on special teams and a backup in a star-studded backfield but was a key part of all five of Vince Lombardi’s championship teams.

“He played on every special teams unit we had,” Hall of Famer David Robinson told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He was Vince's kind of player: athletic, smart and durable.”

In 1966, he set career highs with 393 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in the regular season, highlighted by his career highs of 99 rushing yards and three touchdowns in a blowout victory over the Detroit Lions.

In the 1966 playoffs, he rushed for 66 yards in the wild victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Championship Game, then rushed 11 times for 45 yards and the two scores and added two receptions for 32 more yards in the historic victory over the Chiefs.

Pitts, while in the midst of a 25-year run as an assistant coach, was enshrined in the Packers Hall of Fame in 1979.

“You hear every now and then, when there are some head coaching openings, the fact that minority coaches aren't getting opportunities – and, I'm telling you, somebody ought to take a look at Elijah Pitts,” legendary Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy told The Buffalo News in 1989.

Pitts died of cancer in 1998 at age 60.

The event will be attended by, among others, Ron Pitts. The son of Elijah Pitts, Ron Pitts played two seasons for the Bills and three seasons for the Packers.