![]() Meador, who died this week at age 86, had only one lingering disappointment. ![]() “Somewhere Bear Bryant is tipping that herringbone hat and saying, 'You got me on that one,'” Meador's son, Dave, said on a podcast. Read more: Plaschke: For rebuilding Rams in race to draft Caleb Williams, each loss could be a winīy the time his 12-year career as a cornerback and free safety with the Rams was over in 1970, Meador was a four-time All-Pro, made six Pro Bowls, was named to the NFL's all-decade team for the 1960s and set Rams records that still stand with 46 interceptions, 22 fumble recoveries and 10 blocked kicks. The Rams drafted him and signed him for a $500 bonus in 1959 and he cracked the starting lineup as a rookie. Meador returned to Russellville, enrolled at tiny Arkansas Tech and proceeded to start at tailback and safety all four years, breaking every school rushing record. Undeterred, Meador climbed back into his car and drove 437 miles to Tulsa, Okla., where a new coach, Bobby Dobbs, was taking over a Golden Hurricanes team that was 0-11 in 1954. Bryant looked back at the 5-foot-10, 165-pound, tow-headed 18-year-old and told him he'd never play big-time football, saying, "You need to go somewhere else." Meador walked into Coach Bear Bryant's office at Texas A&M and said he wanted to play football for him. So upon graduating from high school in 1955, Meador drove 485 miles from Russellville, Ark., to College Station, Texas. Straightforward, matter-of-fact and knowing exactly what he wanted, that's the way Eddie Meador lived his life.
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