Floyd Little, one of Connecticut’s greatest athletes, has died of cancer.

Little, born on July 4, 1942, burst into football prominence at James
Hillhouse High School before Hall of Fame careers at Syracuse University
and with the Denver Broncos. Little was enshrined into the College
Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. He
was a charter member of Broncos Ring of Fame in 1984.

He died Friday at his home in Las Vegas with his wife, DeBorah, at his
side, according to a statement from his family.

Little was uncle to former Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson, who called his
uncle “magnetic.�

“He was one of the greatest football players of all time,� Jackson said.
“He was a better person than he was a football player.�

Little, 78, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in May. He entered
hospice care in late November.

Little ran for 6,323 yards and 43 touchdowns in nine seasons with the
Denver Broncos after being the sixth overall selection in 1967 draft. He
recorded his lone 1,000-yard season in 1971 when he was the NFL rushing
champion with 1,133 yards in 14 games. He led the AFL in all-purpose
yards in 1967 and 1968, and led the AFL and NFL in rushing yards per
game during the 1969 and 1971 seasons.

He remains a popular figure in Denver. On Sunday, the Broncos awarded
Little and his family the game ball following a 20-13 victory over the
Miami Dolphins.

A member of Syracuse’s all-century team, Little earned All-American
honors at Syracuse from 1964-66 and graduated with a program record
2,704 yards. He broke Jim Brown’s program record with 1,681 all-purpose
yards in 1964 and broke that mark with 1,990 yards in 1965, a record
that still stands. The 1966 team captain, played seven games as top 10
teams during his three seasons with the Orange.

Little was enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and
Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

President-elect Joe Biden, a classmate and fraternity brother of
Little’s at Syracuse, videotaped one of two introductory speeches for
Little.

“President-elect Biden and he were able to connect on the phone a couple
of weeks ago,� Jackson said.

During his enshrinement in Canton, Little passed on notecards and spoke
from the heart, including his humbling beginnings in New Haven.

“Because of those who encouraged me in those early years, I am here
today,� Little said. “I want to encourage you, every student, every
athlete who will hear my voice. Don’t listen to the naysayer. I had
plenty of those. Don’t focus on your weakness, so you won’t become a
victim. Find the goodness in you that says, yes I can be a good student.
Yes I can be a good son or daughter. Yes I can be a positive role model.

“The choice is yours. Be the best you can be. I truly believe that none
of us is anything until the least of us is something. Leave a legacy
that you and your family can be proud. I’ve given you everything that
I’ve got, and I’m a better person for it.�

During Little’s Hall of Fame induction speech, he also made reference to
the angry young man at Troup Middle School. Implied in his speech were
the many peers, coaches and administrators who “saw the good in him� and
gave him a chance to excel.

Little told the New Haven Register in 2010 that one of those people was
Bob Schreck, a former teacher at Troup and later principal at Troup and
Lee High School. Little credited Schreck with helping convince school
administrators to allow him to return to school after as a
seventh-grader he was expelled for fighting a ninth-grade bully, and
then helped steer a better path for a painfully shy young man who was
ridiculed over what was perceived as his lack of academic wherewithal.

“Because of those who believed in me, I was re-enrolled back in school,
became class president (in ninth grade) and started my journey as a
leader in everything I did,� said Little. “I never looked back.�

Little also gave much credit to former Hillhouse football coaching
legend Dan Casey. Little praised Casey in his Hall of Fame speech for
seeing the good in him when others didn’t. Little’s SAT scores were not
good, but Casey was determined to get Little into the best possible
preparatory environment he could.

“He pulled out all the stops and found a school in Bordentown that
wanted to integrate,� Little told the Register in 2010. “They wanted a
more mature person that could deal with hostility and anger and racism.
I was the first African American to go to Bordentown.�

The same year he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he
returned to New Haven to personally present a scholarship named in his
honor at the New Haven Gridiron Club annual dinner. He shocked the New
Haven Gridiron Club that evening with a personal check for $12,000 to
the organization.

Little returned to the New Haven Gridiron Club dinner again in 2015 when
his Hillhouse backfield mate Billy McCoy was inducted.

Hillhouse won eight of nine games in 1960, a controversial loss to Notre
Dame-West Haven in October costing it the Waskowitz Trophy — a coveted
prize in the days before CIAC playoffs and the Register Top 10 Poll.

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New Haven is a small city and Hillhouse was not a huge high school.
Everyone there knew Floyd Little and loved watching him on the football
field and on the basketball court, his "second" sport. Sad news.


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