Paul Vernon Hornung (born December 23, 1935) is a retired Hall of Fame professional football player who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1957-66. He, O.J Simpson,Earl Campbell are the only people to have won the Heisman Trophy, been selected as first overall National Football League draft picks, and been inducted into both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame.

A versatile player, he was a halfback, quarterback, and placekicker. Hornung was an excellent all-around athlete who also played college basketball.

Hornung was an outstanding athlete at Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget High School in Louisville (now closed), having lettered four years each in football, basketball, and baseball. He was recruited by Bear Bryant at Kentucky, but chose to attend Notre Dame instead.

A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football that are played are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, Rugby league, and Rugby union.

It has been estimated that there are 250 million association football players in the world, and many play the other forms of football.

Football players generally begin as amateurs and the best players progress to become professional players. Normally they start at a youth team (any local team) and from there, based on skill and talent, scouts offer contracts. Once signed, they learn to play better football and some advance to the senior or professional teams.

Research shows that association football players that take less than 200ms after the referee blows their whistle for a penalty kick are significantly more likely to miss scoring than those that take over a second.

American football players are prone to head injuries. This may make them prone to Alzheimers.

Michael Keller Ditka, Jr. (born October 18, 1939) is a former American football NFL player, television commentator, and coach. Ditka coached the Chicago Bears for 11 years and New Orleans Saints for three years. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only two people to win Super Bowls as a player, an assistant coach, and a head coach. Ditka was the only individual to participate in both of the last two Chicago Bears' championships, as a player in 1963 and as head coach in 1985.

Ditka was born as Michael Dyczko in the Pittsburgh-area town of Carnegie, Pennsylvania on October 18, 1939. The oldest child of Mike Sr. and Charlotte, he grew up in nearby Aliquippa, Pennsylvania with siblings Ashton, David, and Mary Ann. Mike Sr., a welder, was one of three brothers of a Ukrainian family in the coal mining and steel manufacturing area in Western Pennsylvania. The surname "Dyczko" was difficult to pronounce in his hometown, so the family name was changed to "Ditka." Ditka attended St. Titus School.

A three-sport star at Aliquippa High School, Ditka hoped to escape his hometown's manufacturing jobs by attending college with a football scholarship. Planning to become a dentist, he was recruited by Notre Dame, Penn State, and University of Pittsburgh. Ditka played for the University of Pittsburgh from 1958–1960, where he also became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He started all three seasons and is widely considered one of the best tight ends in college football history. In addition to playing tight end, he also served as the team's punter. He led the team in receiving in all three of his seasons with them and was a first team selection on the College Football All-America Team in his senior year. In 1986, he was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Louis Leo "Lou" Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is a retired American football coach, and active sportscaster, author, and motivational speaker. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the University of Arkansas (1977–1983), the University of Minnesota (1984–1985), the University of Notre Dame (1986–1996), and the University of South Carolina (1999–2004), compiling a career record of 249–132–7. Holtz's 1988 Notre Dame team went 12–0 with a victory in the Fiesta Bowl and was the consensus national champion. Holtz is the only college football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 20 rankings. Holtz also coached the New York Jets of the NFL during the 1976 season.

Over the years, the slender, bespectacled Holtz has become known for his quick wit and ability to inspire players. He is often found as a guest on the popular Richmond, Virginia based Kain Road Radio. In 2005, Holtz joined ESPN as a college football analyst. On May 1, 2008, Holtz was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

John Christopher Lujack, Jr. (pronounced Lu' jack; born January 4, 1925) is a former American football quarterback and 1947 Heisman Trophy winner.

He played college football for the University of Notre Dame, and professionally for the Chicago Bears. Lujack was the first of several successful quarterbacks who hailed from Western Pennsylvania. Others include Pro Football Hall of Fame members Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Joe Montana and George Blanda.

Lujack was born to Alice and John, Sr., in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, the youngest of four sons and fifth child in a family of six children. The family, which included older siblings Valentine ("Val"), Stanley ("Stan"), Victoria, Aloysius ("Allie"), and younger sister Dolorous, is of Polish descent. His father, John, Sr., worked for the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad for thirty years as a boiler-maker.

He was on the Connellsville High School football team from 1939 to 1941, and was also senior class president and valedictorian. He lettered in four sports; baseball, football, basketball, and track, in high school.