Rob Lytle


Robert William "Rob" Lytle was an American football player.
Lytle played college football at the University of Michigan from 1973 to 1976. A running back, he broke Michigan's career record with 3,317 rushing yards and was selected as a consensus first-team All-American in 1976. He was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Lytle played professionally for the Denver Broncos of National Football League from 1977 to 1983. In seven seasons, Lytle compiled 1,451 rushing yards and 562 receiving yards.

Early years

Born and raised in Fremont, Ohio, where his family had operated a clothing store for several generations, Lytle graduated from its Ross High School in 1973.

University of Michigan

Lytle enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1973 and played college football as a tailback and fullback for Bo Schembechler's Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1973 to 1976.
As a sophomore in 1974, Lytle was the Wolverines' second leading rusher with 802 yards on 140 carries for an average of 5.7 yards per carry. In 1975, he started at fullback in all 12 games, and was the again the team's second leading rusher with 1,030 yards on 193 carries.
In his senior season in 1976, Lytle started nine games at fullback and three at tailback for the Big Ten championship team which finished the season at 10–2 and ranked third in the final AP Poll. He led the team with 1,469 rushing yards on 221 carries and 14 rushing touchdowns. A consensus first-team All-American, Lytle was third in the Heisman Trophy balloting, behind winner and
During three years as a regular player at Michigan, Lytle set the school's career record with 3,307 rushing yards. It was broken five years later by Butch Woolfolk, and he now ranks eighth in rushing yards. Lytle was involved in two games in which Michigan had three rushers accumulate 100 yards, and he was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.

Professional football

Lytle was selected by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 1977 NFL Draft. He spent seven seasons in the NFL with the Broncos and rushed for 1,451 yards, caught 61 passes for 562 yards, returned six kickoffs for 99 yards, and scored 14 touchdowns. At the end of his rookie season, he scored Denver's sole touchdown in Super Bowl XII. Lytle holds the distinction of being the first to score a touchdown in both a Rose Bowl and a Super Bowl.

Later years

Lytle suffered a heart attack and died at Fremont Memorial Hospital in Fremont, Ohio on November 20, 2010. He is survived by his wife Tracy Lytle, his son Kelly Lytle, his daughter Erin Lytle Tober, his granddaughter Audrey and his father William Lytle.
An autopsy of his brain revealed “moderate to severe” symptoms of the neurodegenerative disease Chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Footage of Lytle with the Denver Broncos was used in the 1988 film Everybody's All-American.