View source for Rob Lytle

{{Short description|American football player (1954–2010)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
|image=Rob Lytle.png
|caption=Lytle scores a Michigan touchdown, 1974
|number=25, 41
|position=[[Running back]]
|birth_date={{birth date|1954|11|12}}
|birth_place=[[Fremont, Ohio]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|2010|11|20|1954|11|12}}
|death_place=Fremont, Ohio, U.S.
|height_ft = 6
|height_in = 1
|weight_lbs = 198
|high_school = [[Fremont Ross High School|Fremont Ross]] (Fremont, Ohio)
|college=[[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan]] (1973–1976)
|draftyear=1977
|draftround=2
|draftpick=45
|teams=
* [[Denver Broncos]] ({{NFL Year|1977}}–{{NFL Year|1983}})
|highlights=
* Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1976 College Football All-America Team|1976]])
* [[Big Ten Most Valuable Player]] (1976)
* First-team [[List of All-Big Ten Conference football teams|All-Big Ten]] ([[1976 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1976]])
|statlabel1=[[Carry (gridiron football)|Rushing attempts]]
|statvalue1=376
|statlabel2=[[Rush (gridiron football)|Rushing yards]]
|statvalue2=1,451
|statlabel3=[[Touchdown|Total TDs]]
|statvalue3=14
|pfr=LytlRo00
|CollegeHOF=2384
}}
'''Robert William Lytle''' (November 12, 1954 – November 20, 2010) was an American [[American football|football]] [[running back]] who played for the [[Denver Broncos]] in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) for seven seasons.

Lytle played [[college football]] for the [[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan Wolverines]] from 1973 to 1976. He broke Michigan's then career [[Rush (gridiron football)|rushing]] record with 3,317 yards, was the [[Big Ten Most Valuable Player]], and was selected as a consensus first-team [[1976 College Football All-America Team|All-American]] in 1976. He was posthumously inducted into the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] in 2015.

Lytle was selected in the second round of the [[1977 NFL draft]], and played for the Broncos until 1983. In his seven seasons, Lytle compiled 1,451 rushing yards, 562 [[Reception (gridiron football)|receiving]] yards and 14 touchdowns.

==Early life==
Born and raised in [[Fremont, Ohio]], where his family had operated a clothing store for several generations,<ref name=ltbof>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-n9IAAAAIBAJ&pg=6808%2C3318228 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |last=Stellino |first=Vito |title=Lytle talks big – on field |date=December 30, 1976 |page=11}}</ref> Lytle graduated from its [[Fremont Ross High School|Ross High School]] in 1973.<ref name=PFR>{{cite web|title=Rob Lytle|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=Pro-Football-Reference.com|access-date=March 27, 2015|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/L/LytlRo00.htm}}</ref>

==University of Michigan==
Lytle enrolled at the [[University of Michigan]] in 1973 and played [[college football]] as a [[Halfback (American football)|tailback]] and [[Fullback (American football)|fullback]] for [[Bo Schembechler]]'s [[Michigan Wolverines football]] teams from 1973 to 1976.<ref name=Roster>{{cite web|title=All-Time Football Roster Database|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|access-date=March 26, 2015|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/rosters/football.php}}</ref>

As a sophomore in [[1974 Michigan Wolverines football team|1974]], Lytle was the Wolverines' second leading rusher with 802 yards on 140 carries for an average of 5.7 yards per carry.<ref name=SY>{{cite web|title=Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page|publisher=University of Michigan|access-date=March 27, 2015|url=http://stats.ath.umich.edu/football/footstart.php|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524051040/http://stats.ath.umich.edu/football/footstart.php|archive-date=May 24, 2013}}(to retrieve information for a particular season, go to "Games & Totals by Season" and select the year for which statistics are to be retrieved)</ref> In [[1975 Michigan Wolverines football team|1975]], he started at fullback in all 12 games,<ref>{{cite web|title=1975 Football Team|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|access-date=March 27, 2015|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1975fbt.htm}}</ref> and was the again the team's second leading rusher with 1,030 yards on 193 carries (average: 5.3 yards).<ref name=SY/>

In his senior season in [[1976 Michigan Wolverines football team|1976]], Lytle started nine games at fullback and three at tailback for the [[Big Ten Conference|Big Ten]] championship team which finished the season at 10–2 and ranked third in the [[1976 NCAA Division I football rankings|final]] [[AP Poll]].<ref>{{cite web|title=1976 Football Team|publisher=University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library|access-date=March 27, 2015|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1976fbt.htm}}</ref> He led the team with 1,469 rushing yards on 221 carries and 14 rushing touchdowns.<ref name=SY/> A consensus first-team [[1976 College Football All-America Team|All-American]],<ref name=tolblaa>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aBBPAAAAIBAJ&pg=6317%2C3573842 |newspaper=Toledo Blade |location=(Ohio) |agency=Associated Press |title=Lytle, Brudzinski named All-Americas |date=December 2, 1976 |page=58}}</ref><ref name=CAA>{{cite web|title=2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections|publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)|year=2014|access-date=February 10, 2015|page=7|url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2014/Awards.pdf|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006082159/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2014/Awards.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Lytle was third in the [[Heisman Trophy]] [[1976 NCAA Division I football season#Heisman Trophy|balloting]], behind winner {{nowrap|[[Tony Dorsett]]}} and {{nowrap|[[Ricky Bell (running back)|Ricky Bell]].<ref name=dsthhes>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZxBPAAAAIBAJ&pg=6750%2C3117894 |newspaper=Toledo Blade |location=(Ohio) |agency=Associated Press |title=Dorsett thinks he should have won two straight Heismans |date=December 1, 1976 |page=38}}</ref><ref name=daomtes>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kYYqAAAAIBAJ&pg=6988%2C299954 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |title=Dorsett awes own mates |date=December 1, 1976 |page=69 }}</ref>}}

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stats.ath.umich.edu/football/footstart.php|title=Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page|access-date=2007-12-06|publisher=Regents of the University of Michigan|year=2003|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524051040/http://stats.ath.umich.edu/football/footstart.php|archive-date=2013-05-24}}</ref>  Lytle was involved in two games in which Michigan had three rushers accumulate 100 yards,<ref>{{cite web|title=Michigan Football Statistic Archive Query Page|publisher=University of Michigan|url=http://stats.ath.umich.edu/football/footstart.php|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524051040/http://stats.ath.umich.edu/football/footstart.php|archive-date=2013-05-24}} (The two games are: October 18, 1975 vs. Northwestern - Huckleby [157], Lytle [105], Bell [100]; September 18, 1976 vs. Stanford - Huckleby [157], Davis [116], Lytle [100])</ref> and he was posthumously inducted into the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] in 2015.<ref>{{cite news|title=Former U-M RB Lytle elected to College Football HOF|date=January 9, 2015|author=Mark Snyder|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|url=http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2015/01/09/michigan-football-rob-lytle/21496499/}}</ref>

==Professional football==
Lytle was selected by the [[1977 Denver Broncos season|Denver Broncos]] in the second round (45th overall pick) of the [[1977 NFL draft]].<ref name=PFR/> At the end of his [[1977 Denver Broncos season|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 Game|Rose Bowl]] and a [[Super Bowl]].

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 (12 rushing and two receiving).<ref name=PFR/>

Writing as an adult, his son Kelly tells how Michigan Coach Schembechler called him the “toughest player” he had ever coached. And yet, in the pros “What fans never saw, though, was how Dad was an invalid during the week and transformed into a warrior on Sundays by fixing a cocktail of cortisone, painkillers, adrenaline, and his obsession to play football.”<ref name="The Cauldron, 2016">''The Cauldron'',[https://the-cauldron.com/the-disappointment-of-roger-goodell-4908fca8771 “The NFL Failed My Father”], Kelly Lytle, Feb. 1, 2016.</ref>

==Later years==
Lytle had a [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]] and died at Fremont Memorial Hospital in Fremont, Ohio on November 20, 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freep.com/article/20101121/SPORTS06/101121006/U-M-All-American-Rob-Lytle-dies-at-56|title=U-M All-American Rob Lytle dies at 56}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Rob Lytle, All-American Back, Dies at 56|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 21, 2010|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/sports/football/22lytle.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Michigan All-American Rob Lytle dies at 56|newspaper=The Detroit News|date=November 21, 2010|url=http://www.detnews.com/article/20101121/SPORTS0201/11210318/0/METRO/Michigan-All-American-Rob-Lytle-dies-at-56}}</ref>
An autopsy of his brain revealed “moderate to severe” symptoms of the neurodegenerative disease [[Chronic traumatic encephalopathy]] (CTE).<ref name=dpwsign>{{cite news |url=http://www.denverpost.com/2015/05/26/cte-warning-signs-existed-before-former-broncos-rb-rob-lytles-death-in-2010/ |newspaper=Denver Post |last=Frei |first=Terry |title=CTE "warning signs" existed before former Broncos RB Rob Lytle's death in 2010 |date=May 26, 2015 |access-date=January 13, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Frei">{{citation |url=http://www.denverpost.com/2015/12/20/autopsy-ex-texas-longhorns-tackle-greg-ploetz-had-stage-4-cte/ |author= Frei, Terry |title=Autopsy: Ex-Texas Longhorns tackle Greg Ploetz had Stage 4 CTE |date= 2015-12-20 |access-date= 2016-11-05}}</ref> He is one of at least 345 [[List of NFL players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy|NFL players to be diagnosed after death with chronic traumatic encephalopathy]] (CTE), which is caused by repeated hits to the head.<ref>{{cite news |title=The driving force behind Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) |website=Concussion Legacy Foundation |url=https://concussionfoundation.org/cte-resources/subconcussive-impacts |access-date=July 2, 2023 |archive-date=July 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702123543/https://concussionfoundation.org/cte-resources/subconcussive-impacts |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Ken Belson and Benjamin Mueller |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/20/sports/football/cte-study-concussions-brain-tackle.html |title=Collective Force of Head Hits, Not Just the Number of Them, Increases Odds of C.T.E.  The largest study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy to date found that the cumulative force of head hits absorbed by players in their careers is the best predictor of future brain disease. |work= [[The New York Times]] |date=June 20, 2023 |access-date=July 2, 2023 }}</ref>

Footage of Lytle with the Denver Broncos was used in the 1988 film ''[[Everybody's All-American (film)|Everybody's All-American]]''.

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{cfbhof|id=2384|name=Rob Lytle}}
* [https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/rob-lytle-1.html Sports Reference] - college football - Rob Lytle
*{{Footballstats |nfl=2519879 |cfl= |afl= |espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |fox= |si= |pfr=LytlRo00 |dbf=LYTLEROB01 |rotoworld=}}
* [http://www.legacy.com/ns/rob-lytle-obituary/146772567 Legacy.com] - obituary for Rob Lytle

{{Chicago Tribune Silver Football navbox}}
{{1976 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{Michigan Wolverines football rushing leaders}}
{{Broncos1977DraftPicks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lytle, Rob}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:American football running backs]]
[[Category:Players of American football with chronic traumatic encephalopathy]]
[[Category:Denver Broncos players]]
[[Category:Michigan Wolverines football players]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Fremont, Ohio]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Ohio]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]