By Stampeders.com staff
Like many college football players, Otis Douglas went on to play in the pros.
What makes Douglas unique is that 16 years — repeat, 16 years — separated his final college game and his pro debut.
So what’s the explanation for the huge gap in the playing career of the man who would later become head coach of the Calgary Stampeders?
Well, for starters he was a coach — an assistant at his alma mater, William & Mary, for seven years, then an assistant at Akron for two years before being promoted to head coach.
In 1942, he walked away from football to serve in World War II. Upon returning from the war, Douglas surprisingly decided to dig up his cleats and start playing again. So it was then in 1946, at the age of 35, Douglas made his National Football League debut for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Douglas, a tackle, wound up playing 30 games over four years and winning two league titles with the Eagles before retiring in 1949 at the age of 38. Well, he retired as a player anyway. In 1948, while still playing in the NFL, Douglas was also coaching at Philadelphia’s Drexel University.
And if that wasn’t enough, he also served as trainer of the Eagles. History doesn’t show how the situation was handled when Douglas himself needed medical attention.
The Reedville, Va., native left Drexel to become head coach at the University of Arkansas. Douglas had stints as an assistant with the NFL’s Baltimore Colts and Villanova University before joining the Stamps in 1956.
He faced a daunting task in Calgary as the Stamps hadn’t had a winning season since 1949 and had gone 6-19 under the coaching of Jack Hennemeier, the man Douglas replaced in late September of the 1956 season.
The Stamps, led by key players such as running back Earl Lunsford, tackles Dick Huffman and Don Luzzi, end Jack Gotta and guard Harry Langford, made slow but steady progress under Douglas, going from four wins in 1956 to six in 1957 and eight in 1959. After a 0-2-1 start in 1960, however, Douglas was replaced by Steve Owen.
Given Douglas’ unusual career path, his next job after leaving Calgary, no matter what it was, shouldn’t have surprised anyone and yet he fooled everyone by becoming a fitness consultant for baseball’s Cincinnati Reds.
So to recap, Douglas’ football career started when he made the William & Mary football team despite having never played the game competitively and ended when he changed sports and vocations. A remarkable career for a remarkable man.