Born on Christmas Day, Like Sol Invictus

Guest contributor Susan Keiser counts up the top pro football players born on Christmas Day.

Christmas doesn’t have as strong a tie to the NFL as Thanksgiving, but it still has given us such special moments as the double-overtime 1971 playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs.

That said, quite a few notable players, including some true legends of the game, share a birthday with the holiday, not to mention such notable people as Sir Isaac Newton, Humphrey Bogart, and the late, great Rickey Henderson.

December 25 is both a sacred and secular holiday in American culture, and Christmas is more of a celebration of Christ’s birth than a definitive birth date. This list is not intended as a sacrilege to Him, nor to Sol Invictus, the Roman sun god who was also celebrated on December 25 in ancient times. Nor is it a definitive list of NFL players born on December 25. It’s simply one person’s list of the ten (“greatest” but not “best”) born on this day, from relative footnotes to Hall of Famers.

Napoleon Barrel

(December 25, 1885 - D 1964)

The Oorang Indians lasted for two seasons in the early days of the NFL. They were an all-indigenous traveling team led by Jim Thorpe and sponsored by a kennel for Airedale terriers, and they were more of a publicity stunt than a public service. Chippewa native Napoleon Barrel spent only one season with the team as a 37-year old rookie offensive lineman in 1923.

The 1922 Oorang Indians. Jim Thorpe is in the middle by himself. Public Domain photo from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Frank Walton

(December 25, 1911 - September 22, 1953)

Frank “Tiger” Walton only played 25 games in three seasons for the franchise now called the Washington Commanders, but his NFL career and his legacy are worth mentioning.

Tiger had a decade-long hiatus between his rookie season when the franchise was in Boston and filling in on a decimated Washington roster as a right guard and line coach during World War II. He oversaw the Army Air Force’s physical education department at Geneva College during his NFL interim. At one point, he simultaneously played guard for Washington and coached the University of Maryland offensive line.

Walton was the first NFL player to have a son play in the league: Joe Walton would be the head coach of the New York Jets in the 1980’s before spending 20 years at Robert Morris, whose stadium is named in his honor. Tiger also had an impact as a coach at the high school, pro, semi-pro, and college level before his untimely death at age 42.

Dave Parks

(December 25, 1941 - August 8, 2019)

Calling Dave Parks a one-season wonder is a little harsh. But his 1965 season, in which he led the NFL in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, was the apex of a decent career.

The first overall pick of the 1964 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers out of Texas Tech, Parks was a favorite target of John Brodie made the Pro Bowl as a WR in each of his first three seasons. He left the 49ers for the expansion New Orleans Saints in 1968, moved to tight end and was past his prime by the time Archie Manning arrived.

Norm Bulaich

(b. December 25, 1946)

It can be weird to know someone who shares your birthday, especially if that someone is playing the same position on the very same team. Norm Bulaich is more than just the bonus answer in a trivia question about fullbacks on the 1979 Miami Dolphins born on Christmas Day in 1946. A first round draft pick out of TCU, Bulaich made an immediate impact on the Baltimore Colts, winning a Super Bowl ring as a rookie in 1970. After a brief stint with the Eagles, Bulaich then went to Miami and became a solid replacement for birthday twin Larry Csonka after the latter left for the World Football League in 1975. Bulaich and Csonka eventually finished their respective careers for Don Shula’s Dolphins in 1979.

William Andrews

(b. December 25, 1955)

William Andrews is a great “what if” in NFL history, with an incredible run at RB for the Atlanta Falcons in the early 1980s which was stopped abruptly by injury. The Auburn alum rushed for over 1,000 yards in four of his first five seasons and would have easily done so a fifth time had the 1982 players’ strike not cut the season to nine games. Andrews’ 1983 season was arguably his best yet, securing a fourth consecutive Pro Bowl nod, while gaining a combined 2,176 yards rushing and receiving.

A brutal knee injury in a 1984 preseason game against Washington effectively derailed his career. He returned for nine games in 1986, primarily as a tight end, before retiring.

Dick Barwegen

(December 25, 1921 - September 3, 1966)

Dick Barwegen is perhaps the greatest player in the history of the All-America Football Conference not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as well as one of four players on the NFL’s all-1950s team not to be honored in Canton.

A star two-way player at Purdue during World War II, Barwegen continued to play on both sides of the ball for his rookie season with the New York Football Yankees in 1947 before setting the standard at guard for two different iterations of the Baltimore Colts, sandwiching a star turn with the Chicago Bears in during the early 1950’s.

Part of Barwegen’s obscurity lies in his surname, which is spelled both “Barwegen” and “Barwegan” in his Wikipedia page and by contemporary football writers, but no matter how you spell it, he deserves further consideration in spite of an injury-shortened eight-season career. (The AAFC media guide was at least consistent with the spelling of Barwegen.)

The 1951 National Conference Pro Bowl team. Bewegen is at left guard. Norm Van Brocklin is under center. Public Domain.

Hanford Dixon

(b. December 25, 1955)

The progenitor and leader of the Dawg Pound along with fellow defensive back Frank Minnifield, Dixon led the Browns’ defense throughout the 1980’s. In his nine seasons with Cleveland, Dixon had 26 career interceptions at right cornerback to go with Minnifield’s 20 INTs at left cornerback. Dixon also earned three Pro Bowl selections and three All-Pro nods from 1986 to 1988.

Despite the presence of Dixon, Minnifield, Bruce Matthews, Ozzie Newsome, and a slew of other talent, as well as head coach Marty Schottenheimer, the Browns were star-crossed during Dixon’s peak, with both The Drive and The Fumble denying Cleveland a chance to reach the Super Bowl in 1986 and 1987.

Demaryius Thomas

(December 25, 1987 - December 9, 2021)

A wide receiver who could make both Tim Tebow and a late-stage Peyton Manning look good, Demaryius Thomas had his life tragically cut short by a seizure two years after his final game and only six months after retiring at the age of 33.

The Denver Broncos had the good sense to draft Thomas three spots ahead of Tebow in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft, and the two connected on the overtime touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011 that briefly validated Tebow’s superstar status. But Thomas continued his success as Tebow sputtered, with five consecutive Pro Bowl selections from 2012 to 2016, reaching two Super Bowls and helping the Broncos defeat the Panthers in Super Bowl 50. He ended his career with short Texans and Jets stints, finishing with 63 receiving TDs and a slew of Denver career receiving records.

Larry Csonka

(b. December 25, 1946)

A generation of Millennials (including myself) were introduced to Larry Csonka as the co-host (with Mike Adamle) of “American Gladiators” in the early 1990’s. But his legend as a Hall of Fame fullback with Don Shula’s Miami Dolphins in the early 1970’s had already been established.

A first-round draft pick in 1968 out of Syracuse, Csonka was part of a three-headed rushing attack on Shula’s undefeated 1972 Dolphins, alongside halfbacks Mercury Morris and Jim Kiick. After winning Super Bowls VII and VIII (and the MVP award of the latter), Csonka, Kiick, and wide receiver Paul Warfield signed a lucrative deal with the Memphis Southmen of the World Football League in 1975. The WFL folded in the middle of that season. Zonk then spent three seasons on the New York Giants (he was the intended ballcarrier for The Miracle at the Meadowlands in 1978) before finishing his career with the Dolphins in 1979.

Leisure Suit Larry Csonka, 1972. By Roy Erickson, through Wikimedia Commons.

Ken Stabler

(December 25, 1945 - July 8, 2015)

There is only one Kenny Stabler, who led the 1970’s Oakland Raiders to glory in Super Bowl XI, as well as to victory with such memorable plays as “Ghost to the Post” in the 1977 playoffs against the Baltimore Colts and “The Holy Roller” against the San Diego Chargers. The Holy Roller led to the Ken Stabler Rule preventing such a play (an intentional fumble leading to a touchdown) from ever happening again.

The hard-living veteran of Bear Bryant’s Alabama Crimson Tide, the John Madden-era Oakland Raiders and later the Bum Phillips-era Houston Oilers/New Orleans Saints, Stabler’s legendary partying and the nature of quarterbacking at the time (he finished with 194 passing TDs and 222 INTs in his career) overshadowed Stabler’s legacy, until he finally made the Hall of Fame posthumously in 2016.

— Susan Keiser.

Susan is a freelance writer about movies, sports and obscura who frequently contributes to Moviejawn. You can follow Susan on Bluesky @skeiser.bsky.social! Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from all of us at the Too Deep Zone!