Today's Birthday - Aug. 29th - Ed Rufus NG 6'0 285 - '93-'94
One of my favorite players of all time. Ed Rufus transferred to Arkansas State from Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College and was an immediate impact in the fall of 1993. Rufus was a bowling ball. He was closer to 5'10 than 6'0 and closer to 300 than 285. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida native was the strongest guy on the team the day he arrived in Jonesboro with a 465lb bench press. He used his wrestling skills (Florida state wrestling champion at Coconut Creek HS) on the field to get leverage and get into the opponents backfield. In his two seasons Rufus had 15 tackles behind the line and 4 sacks. Rufus finished his career with 103 tackles. He also had 4 passes broken up, which was from the pressure he had on quarterbacks by being so close to them. He obviously wasn't batting down balls because of his height. Head Coach John Bobo called him the best defensive lineman in the Big West. Rufus was named first-team All Big West Conference by both the league coaches and Football News in 1993. Football News also rated him as a Honorable Mention All-American.Ed was named the Balton Memorial Award winner in 1994. The Balton Memorial Award was given to the ASU football player that deemed by the coaches to have shown the most courage for the team throughout the season.
Happy Birthday to former ASU Indian Ed Rufus!
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