Maxie Baughan

Maxie Callaway Baughan, Jr. (born August 3, 1938) was an American football linebacker in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, and the Washington Redskins. Baughan played college football at Georgia Tech.

College career
While at Georgia Tech, Baughan played and started at both Linebacker and Center. In 1959, he was Georgia Tech's captain, an All-American, the Southeastern Conference Lineman of the Year, and the Most Valuable Player in the 1960 Gator Bowl. He set a Georgia Tech single-season record with 124 tackles. Baughan was inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame in 1965 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988.

NFL career
Baughan was selected in the second round of the 1960 NFL Draft by the Eagles as the 20th player chosen overall and became an immediate starter for the team at right side linebacker. Baughan played the next 10 years in the NFL and was voted all-pro four times. At the conclusion of his rookie season, the Eagles won the 1960 NFL Championship, which remains the last league title for the franchise. Baughan was selected to the Pro Bowl for the first of nine times that year, finishing with three interceptions. All told, Baughan would make the Pro Bowl five out of six years during his time with the Eagles. A particularly memorable moment for Baughan occurred on December 12, 1965 in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. On that day, the Eagles intercepted a team-record nine passes in route to a 47-13 win over the Steelers. Six of those points came courtesy of Baughan when he returned a first quarter interception by Steelers quarterback Bill Nelsen thirty-three yards for the lone touchdown of his NFL career.

By 1966, the number of games the Eagles won had sharply declined and Baughan decided that he wanted out of Philadelphia. He requested a trade to Atlanta, his home, or to New York. However, George Allen, who was entering his first season as an NFL head coach with the Los Angeles Rams, won the right to Baughan's services by sending two players (linebacker Fred Brown and defensive tackle Frank Molden ) to the Eagles in return. Baughan and Allen would develop a strong relationship, spending extensive time studying game film together. Baughan would later state that he learned more about football from Allen than anyone else. Baughan was chosen to be the Rams defensive captain and was in charge of signal calling for the unit. He was selected for the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons with the Rams and was also named 1st Team All-Pro three times. After an injury-plagued 1970 season, in which he played in only 10 games and did not start two (the first games that Baughan had not started during his NFL career), Baughan retired from the NFL. Then from 1972–1973, he was an assistant coach and defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech. In 1974, Allen, by now the head coach of the Washington Redskins, talked Baughan into a brief return to the NFL in 1974 as a player-coach for the Redskins. At the conclusion of that season, Baughan retired for good from playing. He finished with 18 interceptions (including 1 returned for a touchdown) and 10 fumble recoveries in 147 games played. However, his coaching career had just begun.

Coaching career
From 1975-1982, he was a defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Colts and Detroit Lions. During his time with the Colts, the team won three straight AFC East divisional championships from 1975-1977. He became head football coach at Cornell in 1983, and his 1988 team was co-champion of the Ivy League. It was Cornell's first championship since 1971. Baughan then returned to the NFL for stints as an assistant with the Minnesota Vikings, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and, finally, the Baltimore Ravens. He retired from coaching in 1998.

Honors
In addition to being a member of the Georgia Tech and College Football Halls of Fame, Baughan has also been inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame (1980), the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (1983) and the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame. However, he has not yet been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame or the Eagles Honor Roll.