Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 1965 celebrates 60-year anniversary

Hall of Famers Published on : 7/3/2025

By Nick Licata

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Sixty years ago, the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined its third class. Honored in the enshrinement were four fabled quarterbacks, a distinguished head coach, a game-wrecking offensive guard and a standout halfback.

On September 12, 1965, head coach GUY CHAMBERLIN, quarterback and halfback JOHN "PADDY" DRISCOLL, offensive guard and linebacker DAN FORTMANN, quarterback OTTO GRAHAM, quarterback SID LUCKMAN, halfback STEVE VAN BUREN and quarterback BOB WATERFIELD were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In his six coaching seasons, five of which were spent as a player-coach, Chamberlin won NFL championships with the undefeated Canton Bulldogs in 1922 and 1923, the Cleveland Bulldogs in 1924 and the Frankford Yellowjackets in 1926. Chamberlin played on championship-winning rosters in 1919, 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1924. As a coach, Chamberlin had a career 58-16-7 record, which marks the highest winning percentage (.759) of any coach in NFL history with a minimum of 50 games at the helm. Before being recruited to join the American Professional Football Association by Jim Thorpe in 1919, Chamberlin was a two-time All-America athlete at the University of Nebraska.

Driscoll was a standout halfback who tallied 18 passing touchdowns and 25 rushing touchdowns over his 11-year career. In 1920, he was hired by the Chicago Cardinals on a then-exorbitant $300-per-game contract, marking him as the first “franchise player” in the American Professional Football Association. He earned his contract, becoming the NFL’s first All-Pro quarterback and leading the league in scoring in 1923 and 1926. In 1925, he led the Chicago Cardinals to the NFL Championship In college, Driscoll was an All-America player who captained a Northwestern team and Jimmy Conzelman coined as “the greatest team [they’ve] ever had.”

Fortmann was just 19 years old when he was selected with the ninth and final pick in the 1936 National Football League Draft by the Chicago Bears. Fortmann, an undersized offensive lineman, proved to be a battering-ram blocker who anchored the left side of Chicago’s line during the franchise’s “Monsters of the Midway” era. He was captain during the Bears’ three championship wins over a four-year span. In 1940, the United Press honored him as their Best Lineman in the NFL. In his eight-year career, the Bears won three NFL championships while Fortmann earned first- or second-team All-NFL honors in all eight seasons.

Graham led the Cleveland Browns to the AAFC championship game in all 10 years of his career and compiled three NFL MVP awards. Under his leadership, the Browns won four consecutive AAFC titles and tallied a dominant 52-4-3 record, marking Graham with the highest career winning percentage by a quarterback in NFL history (minimum 1,500 passing attempts). Graham, who was originally a basketball player at Northwestern University, was sought out by Hall of Fame head coach PAUL BROWN and was the first player Brown signed to play for the Browns. Together, Brown and Graham turned Cleveland into a powerhouse in the 1940s and 50s behind Graham’s nine selections to the AAFC All-League unit.

Luckman, in his 12 seasons with the Chicago Bears, became the first successful T-formation quarterback. In just his second season, Luckman led the Bears to the 1940 NFL title game. Propelled by the complexity of the volatile T attack, the Bears defeated the Washington Redskins 73-0 in the championship game. Working within the explosive system, Luckman won the NFL’s Most Valuable Player honor in 1943 and was named to the first or second All-League team for 10 consecutive seasons from 1940-1949. Luckman is tied as the current NFL record holder for most touchdowns in a game (7).

Van Buren’s pro career evolved the game of football. He surpassed 1,000 yards rushing twice, won four NFL rushing titles and captured the rare and coveted “triple crown” in 1945 when he led the NFL in rushing, scoring and kickoff returns. He was a first-team All-NFL selection in each of his first six seasons. Van Buren lined up as a halfback, but his play style is better compared to that of a fullback as he anchored a menacing Eagles squad that dominated the NFL in the late 1940s. Van Buren and the Eagles won three consecutive division titles and back-to-back NFL titles in 1948 and 1949.

In the 1945 NFL Championship Game, Waterfield threw 37- and 44-yard touchdown passes to lead the Cleveland Rams to a 15-14 victory over the Washington Redskins. That capped a season in which he was a unanimous All-NFL choice and became the first rookie ever to win the league's Most Valuable Player award. Waterfield, who led the National Football League in passing in 1946 and 1951, took the team to three consecutive title games from1949-1951. Waterfield was selected to the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team and has his jersey “7” retired by the Los Angeles Rams.

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