Hall of Fame Running Back, Floyd Little, Diagnosed With Cancer

Hall of Fame Running Back, Floyd Little, Diagnosed With Cancer

Floyd Little was born on July 4, 1942, in New Haven Connecticut. After 4 years at New Haven Hillhouse High School, Little received college offers from the United States Military Academy and Notre Dame, but he instead chose Syracuse.

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In his Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years at Syracuse, Floyd Little was a three-time all American. Little also finished 5th in Heisman voting in both 1965 and 1966. In 1983, Little was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Little was drafted 6th overall in the 1967 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos, where he played running back from 1967-1975 for 9 years. 

In his first 5 years in the NFL, Little made the Pro Bowl 4 times, and one additional time in 1973, two years later.

Little was the first Bronco to ever win a rushing title, which he did in 1970. The very next year, Little became the first Bronco to rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season. Little then became known as “The Franchise” among Broncos fans.

After the 1975 season, Floyd Little retired. 

35 years after his retirement in 2010, Little was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame alongside Jerry Rice and Emmit Smith.

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Cancer Diagnosis

Nobody knew Little had been diagnosed with cancer until, Little’s former Syracuse teammate and friend, Pat Killorin, created a GoFundMe page called “Friends of Floyd,” to help Little with the cost of his cancer treatment.

Pat Killorin on the page wrote, “We believe the last thing we want our friend Floyd to do is to worry about any expense related to this journey or to give up in order to avoid it.”