Howard Twilley, a key receiver for the Miami Dolphins through the group’s excellent 1972 season and a Heisman Trophy runner-up on the College of Tulsa, died on Wednesday. He was 81.
An announcement of his loss of life by a Tulsa spokesperson didn’t say the place Twilley died or cite a trigger.
Twilley caught a landing go in Tremendous Bowl VII in opposition to Washington as Miami rolled to a 14-7 victory to cap a 17-0 season. He additionally performed for the Dolphins group that repeated as Tremendous Bowl champions the subsequent season.
Although comparatively undersized as a large receiver, at 5 ft 10 inches and 185 kilos, he had a strong 11-year professional profession, all of it in Miami, that lasted till 1976, ending with 212 receptions for 3,064 yards and 23 touchdowns.
At Tulsa, Twilley put up exceptional numbers within the mid-Sixties, an period when faculty groups normally caught to the bottom sport. He caught 261 passes for 3,343 yards and 32 touchdowns. His Tulsa report for profession yards receiving stood till Keylon Stokes broke it in 2022.
In 1965, Twilley was the Heisman runner-up to Southern California’s Mike Garrett. He had 134 catches for 1,779 yards that season, N.C.A.A. data that stood for greater than 20 years.
In a single sport, in opposition to Louisville, he caught 5 landing passes and had 230 yards receiving. He additionally had 267 yards on 16 catches in opposition to Memphis, 242 yards on 18 receptions in opposition to Southern Illinois, 226 yards on 14 catches in opposition to Cincinnati, and 214 yards on 19 catches in opposition to Colorado State.
Twilley was the captain of the Educational All-America group in 1965 and the Most Worthwhile Participant of the 1966 Senior Bowl.
The Minnesota Vikings chosen him within the 14th spherical of the 1966 Nationwide Soccer League draft, and Miami selected him within the twelfth spherical of the American Soccer League draft. He selected the Dolphins, a first-year group.
Howard James Twilley Jr. was born on Dec. 25, 1943, in Houston. Data on survivors was not instantly obtainable.
After leaving soccer, he owned and operated sporting items shops in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. He thought-about working for Congress in Oklahoma in 1994 however selected as a substitute to assist one other former Tulsa receiver, Steve Largent, who ran as a Republican and received a seat within the Home of Representatives, which he held for 4 phrases.
Twilley was inducted into the Tulsa Athletic Corridor of Fame in 1984, the School Soccer Corridor of Fame in 1992 and the Oklahoma Corridor of Fame in 1995. Tulsa has retired his jersey, No. 81 — the identical quantity he wore in Miami.
