Del Shofner


Delbert Martin Shofner was an American football wide receiver who played for eleven seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants from 1957 to 1967 in the National Football League.
Shofner was a five-time consensus All-Pro and Pro Bowler in 1958, 1959, and from 1961 to 1963. He led the NFL in receiving yards in 1958 with a total of 1,097 and finished second in that category in both 1959 and 1961 with totals of 936 and 1,125. In 1962, he finished second in receiving touchdowns with 12. Shofner's 1963 receiving yards total of 1,181 was his career-best and the third highest in the NFL that season.
Injuries and illness caused a decline in his effectiveness in 1964 and thereafter and he eventually was supplanted as the starting split end in the middle of the 1965 season. He retired after the 1967 NFL season.
In 2005, he was named to the Professional Football Researchers Association Hall of Very Good in the association's third HOVG class.
Shofner played college football at Baylor University. He was also a punter early in his professional football career.
In addition to football, Shofner played basketball, baseball, and was a sprinter while at Baylor.
Shofner helped lead the Baylor Bears to a 13-7 victory over Tennessee in the 1957 Sugar Bowl and was voted the game's Most Valuable Player.