Brad VanPelt '69

Inducted - 2017

Van Pelt, a 1969 graduate of Owosso High School, was an All-State football and basketball player. Van Pelt helped Owosso share a Big Nine football title with Flint Ainsworth in 1967 and the Trojans captured an outright league title in 1968. He was voted All-State quarterback in Class A his senior year by the Associated Press, UPI and Detroit News but also doubled as a safety. As a senior, Van Pelt scored 12 touchdowns, rushed for 760 yards and averaged 5.3 yards per carry. He passed for another 460 yards. Defensively, he had five interceptions with 47 unassisted tackles and 36 assists. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound two-time All-American safety at Michigan State, Van Pelt was the first defensive player to win the Maxwell Trophy as the nation’s top collegiate player in 1972. He racked up 256 tackles and 14 interceptions in the last three years of coach Duffy Daugherty’s tenure at MSU. He also won seven letters at Michigan State — in football, basketball (power forward), and as baseball (pitcher). As an MSU senior, the New York Giants took Van Pelt as the first pick in the second round of the NFL draft after also being drafted by the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals in the Major League Baseball selection process. He chose to play football and went on to play 14 years in the NFL, the first 11 for the Giants. Van Pelt, who wore No. 10 in high school, college and the pros, was an All-Pro outside linebacker for five straight years from 1976-80. He had 141⁄2 sacks and 20 interceptions over his career. Owosso Football has retired his number 10, and currently paints the field numerals on the 10-yard line gold in his honor. Van Pelt, who had four sons, including former professional NFL quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt, later completed his college degree at Michigan State but died in 2009 at the age of 57 following a heart attack at his Harrison home.