Elvin Lamont Bethea (born March 1, 1946) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as a defensive end with the Houston Oilers of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina A&T Aggies and was the first player from the school to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 2003.
No. 65 | |||||||||||
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Position: | Defensive end | ||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Born: | Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. | March 1, 1946||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
Weight: | 260 lb (118 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school: | Trenton Central | ||||||||||
College: | North Carolina A&T (1964–1967) | ||||||||||
NFL draft: | 1968 / round: 3 / pick: 77 | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||
Bethea was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and played high school football and track at Trenton Central High School.[1] He set the New Jersey state record in the shot put in 1964 – 66 feet 4.5 inches - which stood until 1997.[2] He won the shot put and discus competitions at the Golden West Invitational track meet in 1964.[3]
During his career in Houston, Bethea played in 210 games, including a stretch of 135 consecutive. He played at defensive end and guard in the 1968 season and didn't miss a game until breaking his arm in a game against the Oakland Raiders in 1977. He led the team in sacks six times, finishing his career with 105 unofficial sacks.[4]
His career high was in 1973 with 16 sacks, which still ranks as the best in Oilers/Tennessee Titans history, a feat made more remarkable by the Oilers' 1–13 record.[5] In 1976 Bethea recorded 14+1⁄2 sacks, yet was not voted to the Pro Bowl. In a game against the San Diego Chargers in 1976, he recorded four sacks (his career high) and had one fumble recovery.
He also had 14+1⁄2 sacks in 1969. Other notable seasons in terms of sacks were: 1970 and 1971 with 10+1⁄2 sacks in each, 1975 with 10 and 1978 with 8. He played in the AFC Championship game in 1978 and 1979.
Legend | |
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Led the league | |
Bold | Career high |
Regular season
Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Fumbles | |||||
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GP | GS | Sck | Sfty | FR | Yds | Y/F | TD | ||
1968 | HOU | 14 | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
1969 | HOU | 14 | 14 | 14.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
1970 | HOU | 14 | 14 | 10.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
1971 | HOU | 14 | 14 | 10.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
1972 | HOU | 14 | 14 | 7.0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
1973 | HOU | 14 | 14 | 16.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
1974 | HOU | 14 | 14 | 5.0 | 0 | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 1 |
1975 | HOU | 14 | 14 | 10.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
1976 | HOU | 14 | 14 | 14.5 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2.0 | 0 |
1977 | HOU | 9 | 9 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
1978 | HOU | 16 | 16 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
1979 | HOU | 14 | 14 | 1.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
1980 | HOU | 14 | 12 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
1981 | HOU | 15 | 14 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
1982 | HOU | 9 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
1983 | HOU | 7 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
Career | 210 | 181 | 105.0 | 2 | 16 | 42 | 2.6 | 1 |
Postseason
Bethea was Second-team All-Pro in 1969, 1973, 1978 and 1979 to go with his 8 Pro Bowl selections.
Bethea was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003. He was officially inducted during the Enshrinement Ceremony on August 3, 2003,[6] where his college coach and presenter, Hornsby Howell, unveiled the bust of Bethea,[7] which was sculpted by Scott Myers.
In 2005, Bethea was inducted to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame [8]
Bethea is the author of Smash-Mouth: My Football Journey from Trenton to Canton.[9]
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