Van-ished

Steve Van Buren, the greatest Honduras-born player in NFL, has died of pneumonia at the age of 91. The power running back was the last member of the Philadelphia Eagles first championship, a 7-0 triumph in the 1948 NFL title game, played in one of the worst blizzards Philadelphia had ever seen. Van Buren had to walk to Shibe Park because the snowfall shut down the city’s mass transit options, then scored the lone touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run after the Chicago Cardinals had fumbled at their own 17-yard line, as best as anyone could tell, as the snow obscured yard markers, late in the 4th quarter. In warmer, though not much better weather conditions, Van Buren racked up 196 yards in the rain and mud as the Eagles repeated as NFL champions in 1949. When the Hall of Fame back retired after the 1951 season, he was the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing yards with 5,860, rushing attempts at 1,320 and touchdowns with 69.