Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 1975 celebrates 50-year anniversary

Hall of Famers Published on : 7/9/2025

By Nick Licata
Pro Football Hall of Fame

On Aug. 2, 1975, two dominant offensive tackles and two trailblazing receivers were enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Offensive tackle ROOSEVELT "ROSEY" BROWN, tackle and linebacker GEORGE CONNOR, wide receiver DANTE LAVELLI and flanker/halfback LENNY MOORE are celebrating the 50-year anniversary of their enshrinement in the Hall.

Roosevelt Brown was the New York Giants' starting left offensive tackle for 13 seasons, leading to their reign of success in the 1950s. The Giants won six divisional titles and an NFL championship in an eight-year stretch of Brown’s career. In the 1956 NFL title game, the Giants beat the Chicago Bears, and Brown was awarded Lineman of the Game honors. He was an All-NFL selection for eight consecutive seasons and was selected to nine Pro Bowls. At the time of his Enshrinement, Brown became only the second player to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the merits of his offensive line play alone.

During George Connor’s eight-year career with the Chicago Bears, he was named to the All-NFL team at three positions:offensive tackle, defensive tackle and linebacker. In 1952 and 1953, he was named all-league on both the offensive and defensive teams by different wire services. Under Hall of Fame head coach GEORGE HALAS, the Bears went 59-36-1 with Connor anchoring both sides of the ball from 1948-1955. Connor memorably moved from the defensive line to linebacker in an intentional coaching experiment to stop the Philadelphia Eagles’ sweep offense. Connor led the Bears to a win over the Eagles and was part of the first system to successfully stop Philadelphia’s potent offense.

As a rookie, Dante Lavelli led the NFL in receptions and won All-AAFC honors with the Cleveland Browns. He caught the winning touchdown pass in the first AAFC Championship Game between his Browns and the New York Yankees. In the 1950 NFL Championship Game, after the Browns transitioned to the NFL, Lavelli caught 11 passes, then a record, and scored two touchdowns as the Browns edged the Los Angeles Rams 30-28. Lavelli started in three of the first five Pro Bowl games after building his rapport with Hall of Fame quarterback OTTO GRAHAM.

Lenny Moore tallied 1,638 total yards and 14 touchdowns as he led the Baltimore Colts to the 1958 NFL championship. Following his breakout, the flanker/halfback earned first team All-Pro honors in the next three seasons and again in 1964. From 1963-65, Moore set an NFL record with at least one touchdown scored in 18 consecutive games. Moore, who caught passes from Hall of Fame quarterback JOHNNY UNITAS, was selected to play in the Pro Bowl seven times in his career. Moore retired with 12,451 combined net yards and 113 total touchdowns over 12 seasons.

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