1976 NFL Rookies of the Year

It's been a while since my last NFL Rookies of the Year post.  We left off with the 1975 ROYs.

1976 still had five different organizations each presenting two different NFL Rookie of the Year awards for a total of ten trophies.  In an unusual happenstance, the top NFC rookie was an offensive player and the top AFC rookie was a defender. All five organizations were in unanimous agreement for the first time.  The NFC/Offensive Rookie of the Year was Sammy White. The AFC/Defensive Rookie of the Year was Mike Haynes. Haynes and White had their actual rookie cards in the 1977 Topps set.  Both of them had All Pro banners across the top as well.

 

White spent his whole career in Minnesota making the Pro Bowl his first two seasons.  His final season was in 1985. In 1998 he returned to his Alma Mater, Grambling State as a coach until 2009.

Mike Haynes was a nine time All Pro.  He played 14 seasons, seven with the Patriots and seven with the Raiders.  He retired in 1989 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2000 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

1971 NFL Rookies of the Year

In 1971 there were a total of  5 different Rookie of the year presenters each giving out 2 awards each. Some were divided among offensive and defensive, others AFC or NFC. But for the most Part they were in agreement and the 10 awards were split between 3 players; John Brockington, Jim Plunkett and Isiah Robertson. None of these players had Topps cards in 1971. All three made their Topps debut the following year.

John Brockington won 4 different Rookie of the year honors. He was named NFC ROY by The Sporting News (TSN), United Press International (UPI) and the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA).  He was also named Offensive ROY by the Associated Press (AP). Brockington was the Packers 1st round pick from Ohio State. He was a 3 time Pro Bowler.

Jim Plunkett also collected 4 Rookie of the Year awards. He was the AFC Rookie of the Year per TSN, UPI and NEA. He was crowned Offensive ROY by Pro Football Weekly (PFW). Plunket was the overall #1 pick in the 1971 Draft. He was the 1970 Heisman Award winner for Stanford beating out Joe Theisman and Archie Manning. He led the Raiders to 2 Super Bowl victories despite being the back up quarterback both seasons.  I made this card several years ago for Jim from Downingtown's 1971 Football Cards blog.

Isiah Robertson was named Defensive ROY by both PFW and AP. Robertson was the Rams 1st round pick in 1971 out of Southern University. He was a six time Pro Bowler for the Rams. He was traded to the Bills in 1978 and was among the highest paid linebackers at the time.