ATLANTA (NBC 26) — Over the weekend, former Packers running back Elijah Pitts was posthumously inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame, which honors football legends from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
"It would have been such a proud moment (for him)," Ruth Pitts, Elijah's widow, told NBC 26. "The only one missing was Elijah. But we were all there for him."
Elijah's oldest son, Ron, accepted the induction on behalf of his late father.
"You realize the greatness (of this Hall of Fame)," Ron Pitts said. "A lot of these guys are players that played in the NFL and are Hall of Famers."
The Hall includes NFL greats like Deacon Jones, Walter Payton and Jerry Rice. On Saturday, Pitts joined the fraternity.
After playing his college football at Philander Smith College in Arkansas, Pitts had an uphill road to the NFL.
Vince Lombardi drafted him in the 13th round in 1961. At that time, he was an unknown commodity.
"A lot of people said, 'Wait a minute now... Is this Elijah Pitts out of Philander Smith College or Philander Smith out of Elijah Pitts College?" Ron joked. "They had no idea that this small school in Little Rock, Arkansas could turn out a product like this."
Ruth, who met Elijah in college, said her husband had little doubt.
"He knew," she said. "He felt that he was going to go there and make it. He was confident."
And he was right.
A runner with a rare combination of size and speed, Pitts helped pioneer Lombardi's famous power sweep.
"Let's say the play went to the right, if he saw daylight back to the other side, he would stop and take off and run back the other way," Ron said of his dad. "That term became 'run to daylight.'"
"At first Lombardi didn't like it," Pitts said. "But then he saw the results and he said... 'You know what, we can work with this.'"
Elijah's best season came in 1966 as the Packers won the fourth of Lombardi's five championships. Pitts had 13 total touchdowns that year including two in Super Bowl I, but you'd never catch him boasting about it.
"He wasn't big on talking about himself," Ron said. "But he enjoyed the game. He enjoyed just the purity of playing football. He was a team guy."
Pitts described his father as "a team guy," "a people person" and "a family man." Loved ones said that's the part of him that would have been most proud on Saturday night.
"Seeing our son walk up and accept the award on behalf of his father, I think that was just precious," Ruth Pitts said. "That's a treasure."
After his playing career, Elijah Pitts spent more than two decades as an NFL assistant coach. Most notably, he was the assistant head coach on the Buffalo Bills teams that made it to four consecutive Super Bowls in the early 1990s.
Ron also played in the NFL, including three seasons with the Packers in the late 80s. He then became a football commentator, most well-known for his work with the NFL on FOX.
