He was a gentle giant, a Louisiana Tech All-American who was as kind off the football field as he was ferocious on it, a servant leader who continually invested deeply in his alma mater, in his hometown of Shreveport and in relationships including those first formed in college nearly 80 years ago.

Described as “a Bulldog’s bulldog” in Louisiana Tech’s tribute issued Friday afternoon 1990 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inductee Leo Sanford modeled what it means to be a competitor, a friend, and a servant at the highest levels.

Sanford, 94, passed away overnight Thursday at his home. Funeral arrangements were pending Friday afternoon.

A member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, Ark-La-Tex Museum of Champions and the Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame, Sanford was a star at both Shreveport’s Fair Park High School and Tech as a center and linebacker.

He was a 1950 All-America linebacker for the Bulldogs and a two-time, two-way All-Gulf States Conference selection. When the All-Louisiana “First 100 Years of College Football” team was picked in 1969, Sanford was included as a linebacker.

In an eight-year NFL career, he became defensive captain and played in two Pro Bowls as a linebacker for Chicago. He moved to Baltimore, playing linebacker and snapping on kicks for the Colts led by Johnny Unitas. In the fabled 1958 NFL Championship Game, Sanford suffered what became a career-ending knee injury in the first half, but limped out to snap for the game-tying field goal late in regulation that forced overtime and led to the Colts’ transformational victory over the New York Giants. That game spiked the NFL’s profile among television viewers and forever altered the American sports landscape.

Leo Sanford during an LSHOF Walk of Legends

After football he became a regional sales representative for Josten’s, traveling throughout north Louisiana, east Texas and south Arkansas helping provide senior rings and other commemorative items to generations of young people. He retired more than two decades ago but continued to serve his community in volunteer capacities and support worthy causes.

“Leo was what a legend should be, in every aspect of the word,” said Doug Ireland, chairman of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. “One of Louisiana’s greatest football players; as fine a person as you can ever hope to know; a devoted, loving family man, and an intensely loyal alumnus of Fair Park High School, Louisiana Tech University, and a proud and engaged inductee in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. He truly was beloved by all who knew him, and his influence on countless lives has been profound and inspiring. Knowing Leo Sanford made you a better, happier human.

“He was so gracious, so sincerely interested in helping others, so kind and considerate, the consummate gentleman, and perpetually gregarious. Nobody was any more charming or engaging, encouraging, or more willing to gently offer advice and wisdom if asked,” Ireland said. “Leo was a man of faith and principle, a doer and not a talker, a loyal friend and supporter to so many causes and organizations.”

Sanford was a longtime supporter of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame well before his election for his playing career and induction in 1990. Also in his induction class were current LSU women’s basketball coach and legendary Lady Techsters basketball star Kim Mulkey, and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Charlie Joiner, a Grambling hero. He treasured relationships with LSHOF members such as Grambling coaching legend Eddie Robinson, Archie Manning, Bert and Dub Jones, Carl Maddox, Lin Gamble, Charlie Hennigan, Jerry Pierce and so many more.

In 1983, Sanford received the Distinguished America Award from the NFF at the Independence Bowl. Last year, at the annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet Sanford helped establish five decades ago, he was presented the prestigious NFF Gold Medal, the organization’s highest national honor given to “an outstanding American who has contributed significantly to the sport of college football and our country.” Recipients include six U.S. presidents.

“This community, and so many others, are much better because of his love for the game of football and building leaders through football,” said Toni Goodin, secretary of the Shreveport chapter of the NFF that Sanford served as president for more than 40 years. “He helped mold me and so many others into the leaders we are. I could go on about Leo forever.”

“Mr. Sanford represents all that was and is good about the game of football and how it transcends into a life of making a difference in a community,” Independence Bowl executive director Missy Setters said. “From his time at Fair Park, to Louisiana Tech to the NFL and back into his home community, he had a tremendous impact on so many people throughout his lifetime, including his service to the Independence Bowl. He was of the generation that gave so much to this community.”

“Leo was a friend to all blessed to know him and a beloved member of the Louisiana Tech family,” Tech President Dr. Jim Henderson said. “As a legendary part of the storied Bulldog teams of the ’40s, he left an indelible mark on our university. It was the life he lived in the decades following that embodied the tenets we hold so dear, particularly loyalty. We mourn his loss but are forever grateful for his lifelong commitment to Tech and his example so worthy of emulation for all Bulldogs.”

Sanford and Henderson’s father Clem became teammates at Tech in post-war 1947, and years later were charter members of the Louisiana Tech National Association for the Advancement of Grandstand Quarterbacks (NAAGQ), a group of men who played football at Tech during the 1940s, and their spouses, who maintained lifetime friendships.

In 2018, he established an endowed scholarship, the largest in Tech Athletics history, to be awarded annually to a deserving student-athlete.

“Leo has had an impact on so many people over the years,” said Dr. Les Guice, recently retired president of the university. Guice was close friends with Leo and his wife of 68 years, Myrna, who passed away in the spring of 2018. “He loved Louisiana Tech and has been a great supporter and ambassador for our institution. He played a big role in elevating our reputation nationally.”

“What an honor that I got to know Leo, who lived out everything we hope for our Bulldog student-athletes,” said Tech head football coach Sonny Cumbie. “He was a menace on the field but competed every play with sportsmanship. An ideal teammate, always a gentleman, a servant on the field and off. What a legacy he has left for us to follow.”

“He always made me feel like I was ‘somebody’ because I was a Bulldog,” said fellow Tech Athletics Hall of Famer Mike McConathy, one of Tech’s greatest basketball players. “If he did it for me, I know he’s had the same impact on countless others. ‘Loyalty’ and ‘True Blue’ best describe him to me.”

Leo Sanford, Bobby Aillet, and Jack Brittain, Sr.

McConathy’s father, Johnny, was the No. 5 NBA Draft pick in 1951 out of Northwestern State, and traveled to Chicago to play in a college all-star game. At the train station in Chicago, in a crowd, he and Sanford locked eyes at a distance.

““They had never met, but each knew who the other was,” recalled the younger McConathy. “Neither spoke, but Leo pointed his finger at my dad, with his thumb in the air, and my father returned the signal of respect. From then on, when they saw each other, they repeated that greeting. It was the start of a lifelong friendship.

“Leo’s loyalty to Louisiana Tech, to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, to the National Football Foundation north Louisiana chapter and his and Mrs. Myrna’s support of so many causes, and their faith in our Lord Jesus, has been an incredible example for all of us,” he said. “Hundreds of people feel like we’ve lost a close family member today.”

“Leo was an encourager,” said Terry Slack, a Bossier City native and Tech football letterman in the 1970s who is the Louisiana director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, one of Sanford’s longtime loves. “When I would see him, he would always say encouraging words to me about God’s work in ministry. Mr. Leo would always speak about things going on at Tech, and I cannot remember any negative words at any point.

“Mr. Leo had a way to communicate that was special,” Slack said. “If he was speaking to me, all his attention was on me. I’m sure he was that with everyone. And he always had something to say that was important for me to listen too. Mr. Leo will be missed by all of us. He left a ‘footprint’ wherever he went.”

• Written by LSHOF 2022 inductee Teddy Allen, with contributions from LSHOF chairman Doug Ireland.