Lew Mayne

Lewis Elwood "Mickey" Mayne (March 21, 1920 – October 24, 2013) was an American football halfback who played three seasons in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) between 1946 and 1948. Mayne played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts.

From Cuero, Texas, Mayne was a standout athlete starting in junior high school. He excelled in track and field, but was also a football star in high school. Mayne continued to play football at the University of Texas at Austin; his Texas team won the Southwest Conference in 1942 and was selected to play in the Cotton Bowl the following year, Texas's first-ever bowl appearance. During his senior year, Mayne was called up for service in World War II.

Mayne was discharged in 1946 and signed with the Dodgers. He moved to Cleveland in 1947, when the team won the AAFC championship. Limited by injuries, he retired after spending the 1948 season with the Colts. After his playing career, Mayne became a high school coach and administrator in Texas, working at schools in Winnsboro and Daingerfield. He was inducted into his Cuero High School's hall of fame in 2006. Daingerfield renamed its football stadium Mickey Mayne Tiger Stadium in his honor in 2009.

High school and college career

Growing up in Cuero, Texas, Mayne first showed athletic promise in junior high school, when he won four events at a track meet in Yoakum, Texas. He became a star football player at Cuero High School, and was selected to the Houston Post's All-Southeast Texas Class B team in his junior and senior years. Mayne again entertained an offer to play for the Bears in 1947, and agreed to switch leagues after talking to team owner George Halas. The Browns finished the year with a 12–1–1 record and beat the New York Yankees to win the AAFC championship. Mayne spent a final year with the Baltimore Colts in 1948 before retiring from football. He was the principal at the town's junior high and high school and later became the district superintendent before retiring in 1982.