Bennie McRae

Benjamin Prince McRae (December 8, 1939 – November 22, 2012) was an American football cornerback who played for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Chicago Bears. He played college football as a halfback for the Michigan Wolverines from 1959 to 1961 and was selected by the Bears in the second round of the 1962 NFL draft.

Early life McRae was born in Aberdeen, North Carolina, in 1939. He attended Collis P. Huntington High School in Newport News, Virginia.

University of Michigan McRae enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1958 and played college football at the halfback position for head coach Bump Elliott's Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1959 to 1961. In November 1961, McRae demonstrated his versatility, scoring three touchdowns—on a five-yard run, a 15-yard reception, and a 34-yard interception return—in a 28–14 victory over Duke. In three years at Michigan, he rushed for 1,037 yards on 231 carries for an average of 4.5 yards per carry. He also had 411 receiving yards, 465 yards on 24 kickoff returns and 171 yards on 29 punt returns.

McRae was also a star track athlete at Michigan, competing in both the high and low hurdles. He won four Big Ten Conference hurdle championships and was ranked as one of the top 10 hurdlers in the world in 1961 by Track and Field News. He was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 2002. and went on to play nine seasons for the Bears from 1962 to 1970, principally at the cornerback position. In nine seasons with the Bears, McRae had 27 interceptions, including six during the 1963 NFL season. McRae appeared in eight games for the Giants during the 1971 NFL season.

McRae was married, and he and his wife, Suzanne, had seven children.