Texas A&M football: 30 greatest players of all-time
By Jeff Shull
Stats – Six interceptions in 1970
Accolades – All-American in 1970
Team signature moment – N/A – the Aggies teams of this era were not great, had a losing record in all three of his years
Texas A&M football is known historically for dominating defenses. The Wrecking Crew has been a label for the defense for years. Although the team didn’t have as much success during Dave Elmendorf‘s time in school, he is undoubtedly one of the best defensive players in Texas A&M’s storied history. Not only that, he might be one of the best athletes to ever step foot on campus.
Elmendorf was a three-year letterman in football and was named to the All-American team in 1970, but he also played baseball all four years and was an All-American center fielder. To top all that off, he was a straight-A student and was an Academic All-American.
He played safety, returned kicks and occasionally played tailback for the Aggies. He was drafted by both the Los Angeles Rams and New York Yankees, but ultimately elected to play football over baseball.
Elmendorf would go on to play nine years with the Rams, was an All-Pro safety and appeared in the Super Bowl after the 1980 season. They lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Elmendorf retired.
He has been part of Aggie football radio broadcasts since the late 1980s. He was elected to the Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame, the College Football Hall of Fame, as well as recently to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
It doesn’t get much more model “student-athlete” than Elmendorf.