Lindy Berry

Lindy Berry (December 21, 1927 – April 19, 2014) was an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the TCU Horned Frogs at Texas Christian University. Berry was selected in the 1950 NFL draft, and played professional football for two seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos in what later became the Canadian Football League (CFL). In 1950, he received the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy for the CFL West Division's most valuable player.

Early life Berry attended Wichita Falls High School in Wichita Falls, Texas. While there, he played football under head coach Thurman "Tugboat" Jones. During his junior season in 1944, he led the Coyotes to an 8–3 record and the district championship. Nevertheless, Berry said, "There was this café in town where people went on Saturday mornings to rehash the game from the night before. One morning I heard a couple of guys in there talking about me. One said, 'He will never make it.' I said to myself, 'We'll see.'" As a senior in 1945, Berry led Wichita Falls to an 11–1–1 record. The Coyotes' sole loss was to the eventual state champions, Highland Park High School, which eliminated Wichita Falls in the semifinals. Wichita Falls' Times Record News reported an incident that demonstrated Berry was "tough as nails". In 1947, he led the team in passing with 429 yards, 31 completions on 67 attempts, and one touchdown. Berry finished the season as the team's rushing leader with 783 yards on 190 attempts and four touchdowns. He was named an All-Southwest Conference selection. He also received the Rogers Trophy as the team's most valuable player. In 1949, Berry compiled 1,445 passing yards, 106 completions on 220 attempts, and seven touchdowns. He also threw 23 interceptions, which to date remains the school record. After the season, he participated in the East-West Shrine Game. During that season, he compiled 1,445 passing yards in 10 games. At the time, only one other TCU quarterback had exceeded that in a season, Heisman Trophy winner Davey O'Brien, and he had the benefit of playing in one additional game. Berry's 2,101 total kick return yards set a school record that stood until 2005, when it was broken by Cory Rodgers.

Professional career Berry was selected in the seventh round of the 1950 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers as the 89th overall pick. He played two seasons for the Edmonton Eskimos in what later became known as the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1950 to 1951. He was awarded the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy in 1950 as the West Division's most valuable player. He was named to the CFL's 1950 All-West second team.

Regular season statistics CFL Statistics Passing Rushing Year Team GPAttCom%YdsTDInt Lg #YdsAve.LgTD 1950 Edmonton Eskimos 13254 129 50.8 2201 10 20 10055 209 3.8 0 2 1951 Edmonton Eskimos 1----- - - - - - --

Personal life In 1951, Berry married Mary, the secretary of his former college coach Dutch Meyer. Since those are both rivals of the elder Berry's alma maters, he said, "It wasn't easy but I had to cheer for Charlie." That same year, Sports Illustrated listed him among six others as "worthy of consideration" as the best player to have ever worn the number 43.

Berry is the great-uncle of Lana Berry, a popular figure on Twitter and other social media sites, and sports podcaster.