Mal Hammack


Malcolm Eugene Hammack was an American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League for twelve years during the 1950s and 1960s. Hammack played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Chicago and St. Louis Cardinals of the NFL.

Early life

Hammack was born in Roscoe, Texas in 1933. He attended Roscoe High School, where he played for the Roscoe Plowboys high school football team. After graduating from high school, he attended Arlington State Junior College in Arlington, Texas, and played football for the Arlington State Rebels.

Major college career

Hammack accepted an athletic scholarship to transfer to the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Bob Woodruff's Florida Gators football team in 1953 and 1954. As a senior in 1954, he was a second-team All-Southeastern Conference selection and the first recipient of the Gators' Fergie Ferguson Award, recognizing the "senior football player who displays outstanding leadership, character and courage." Woodruff later ranked him as one of the Gators' five best offensive backs of the 1950s.
Hammack returned to Florida to finish his bachelor's degree in 1958, and was later inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great."

Professional career

The Chicago Cardinals selected Hammack in the third round in the 1955 NFL Draft, and he played his entire twelve-year professional career for the Cardinals, in both Chicago and St. Louis. Hammack was used primarily as a blocking fullback, but he still had 320 carries for 1,278 yards and seven touchdowns in his career.