It wasn't how many times you knocked me down, but how many times I got up." It was May, the Colts' linebacker, who gave the rookie his nickname. "John Unitas once told me, 'I never lost a football game, I just ran out of time.' I kind of felt the same way. But the Colts gave me a chance, and I took a stab at it. I wasn't supposed to be in camp more than a week. "I had no speed, no moves and absolutely no talent. "By all standards, my career was seven years longer than it was supposed to be," said Nottingham, 62, of Summerfield, Fla. Nottingham beat the odds, played seven years and earned a Super Bowl ring (size 15) with the Miami Dolphins that he always wears. Even Life Magazine took note, interviewing Nottingham in 1971. "He'll hit anything standing, and knock it down," former Colts coach Don Shula once said. Size aside, Nottingham stood out in training camp for his high-pitched voice, feet as wide as snowshoes and a fearsome love of contact. The Colts, then reigning Super Bowl champs, didn't know what to make of the odd-shaped rookie from Kent State. "The best way to tackle Don is to hit him low - around the neck," teammate Ray May once said. Not bad for a guy who was the next-to-last one taken in the 442-player college draft. In 2-1/2 seasons with the Colts (1971-73), Nottingham rushed for nearly 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns, while averaging 4 yards a carry. He ran the ball the same way, burrowing past linemen who'd swipe at him, to no avail. At 5-9 and 220 pounds, and with a low-slung center of gravity, Nottingham excelled at hammering would-be tacklers and knocking the pins out from under them. That handle fit Don Nottingham, the Baltimore Colts' stubby fullback, just fine. Before there were NFL players nicknamed The Bus and The Fridge, there was The Human Bowling Ball.
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