Donald Edward Burroughs (August 19, 1931 – October 20, 2006) was an American professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football as a quarterback at Colorado A&M, now known as Colorado State University. Burroughs was notable for his 6'5" height, an anomaly at the safety position. Early life and college career Burroughs was born in Fillmore, California as the only son of a family with four daughters. Burroughs excelled in Ventura Country for Fillmore High School, being selected as an all-leaguer in football, basketball, and baseball. He spurned scholarship offers from places such as Notre Dame to try and avoid being "lost in the shuffle" among a big university. He played football first for Pasadena City College before moving to Ventura College, earning honors from the Western State Conference as an all-pro before he transferred to Colorado A&M. He was named All-Conference and All-American in his tenure there, where he played as a quarterback. In 1951, he threw for 1,279 yards, becoming the first quarterback in school history to pass for more than 1,000 yards in a season. He was preparing to sign with the Los Angeles Rams in 1953 as a free agent, but he was drafted to serve in the Army. Under the help of general manager Tex Schramm, Burroughs served in San Francisco, California rather than in Korea, where he played football in the special services unit. He was named to the All-Army Football Team for 1953-1954 before being discharged in 1955. He was inducted into the Colorado State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1990 along with the Ventura Country Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. Pro football career Due to a logjam of quarterbacks, he elected to switch positions to become a defensive back. His stature and frame earned him the nickname of "The Blade" from Rams quarterback Norm Van Brocklin. In his first season with the Rams, he played in all twelve games. In his first game as a professional on September 25 against the San Francisco 49ers, he picked off three passes off Y.A. Tittle (who threw five in total) in a 23–14 victory for the Rams. Burroughs would collect nine total interceptions in the season, returning them for 103 yards. The Rams won the Western Conference fourth time in the past seven seasons