Rolland Lawrence
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| Position: | Cornerback | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | March 24, 1951 Franklin, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 179 lb (81 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Franklin (PA) | ||||||||
| College: | Tabor | ||||||||
| Undrafted: | 1973 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Rolland Derenfro "Bay" Lawrence (born March 24, 1951) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as a cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) from 1973 to 1980. He was a leader of the 1977 Grits Blitz defense, widely considered to be among the best in league history, and his 39 career interceptions are the most by a Falcons player.[1]
Biography
[edit]Lawrence was selected to his one and only Pro Bowl in 1977, when he accounted for 10 turnovers on seven interceptions and three fumble recoveries.[2] According to Pro-Football-Reference.com's "Approximate Value" statistic,[3] Lawrence recorded the most valuable season by a non-Hall of Famer in NFL history, recording an AV of 24 in 1977, tied for the fifth-highest single-season AV in NFL history as of 2023.[4] That year marked Lawrence's only-ever selections to the Pro Bowl and an All-Pro team.
Lawrence played college football for the Tabor Bluejays in Hillsboro, Kansas. He became a charter member of the Tabor College Hall of Fame in 1999 and was the first player to have his jersey number (3) retired by the school four years later.
References
[edit]- ^ Database Football Archived 2010-02-12 at the Wayback Machine Rolland Lawrence statistics
- ^ "Pittsburgh Passion". Archived from the original on July 3, 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
- ^ "Approximate Value". Retrieved May 8, 2023.
- ^ "NFL Approximate Value Single-Season Leaders". Retrieved May 8, 2023.