Leroy Keyes

Carver High, Newport News (1965)
Multisport

Leroy Keyes is one of the finest all-around athletes in Virginia history. As a 1965 graduate of Carver High School in Newport News, VA, he was an outstanding athlete in football, basketball, and track and field. In football, he scored 44 touchdowns in three seasons and rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a senior. In basketball he scored more than 2,000 points and demonstrated outstanding defensive skills. In track and field he is believed to be the first Virginia high school athlete to long jump 24 feet. At Purdue University, Keyes played a major role in securing the school’s first ever Rose Bowl appearance in 1966. An outstanding player at running back and defensive back, he was a consensus All-American in both 1967 and 1968. He was the first player in Purdue’s history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a single season, and concluded his college career as the school’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns – a record that stood for nearly 30 years. In 1968 he finished second to O. J. Simpson in voting for the Heisman Trophy - college football’s highest individual honor. The Philadelphia Eagles selected him as the third overall pick in the 1969 NFL Draft. In 1987 he was named as both an offensive back and defensive back on Purdue’s All-Time Football Team and was selected as the school’s “All Time Greatest Player.”