Remember Ironhead?

Chances are if you're a long time Bears fan or just a long time football fan in general, you probably smiled when you saw the name 'Ironhead' in the title for this article.

I remember when I first found out who Ironhead was. I was an avid football card collector throughout much of my childhoood and through collecting football cards I came across a Craig Heyward, or as my dad quickly pointed out to me, 'Ironhead' card. While I read the bio on the back of the card I noticed that he was listed as a 290 pound running back. This instantly got my attention so I asked my dad who this guy was and that is when I found out who Ironhead was.

Well, years went by and the next news of Ironhead I heard was in 2006. Ironhead had passed away from a brain tumor he had been battling for some time. It was sad and shocking news hearing that the 39 year old grid iron legend had passed away, but once again Ironhead slipped out of mind for several more years until this January.

In January I was visiting my girlfriend's family and of course I ended up talking about football. My girlfriend's dad, Jim, and I get along really well. We both love football and have a lot of fun talking football. During one of our conversations Jim asked me if I had ever heard of Craig Heyward. Of course I said I had, and he then told me one of the coolest football stories I have ever heard.

Jim went to high school in New Jersey and played football for the Bergenfield High School Bears and Ironhead went to Passaic High School where he played for the Indians (also the high school of the great Jack Tatum). During Jim's senior year (Ironhead's freshman year) of high school he played Passaic in a preseason game. Jim was playing Defensive End, and of course Ironhead was playing running back.

Jim says he remembers Passaic having around 100 players on their team and all of them were chanting "Iron-head! Iron-head!" while Ironhead carried the ball. Then came what Jim calls his claim to fame.

As I mentioned earlier, Jim was playing Defensive End in this game. I myself played Defensive End for several years and know how frequently you come head to head with running backs. This is exactly what happened to Jim. Jim said he hit him straight in the thighs and the 260 pound Ironhead bulled right through but he didn't get too far because Jim was able to trip him up in the process and made the tackle!

I've tackled some stud running backs back in my playing days, but I never tackled anyone anywhere close to the caliber of Ironhead.

Ironhead went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL. During this span he played for the Saints, Bears, Falcons, Rams and Colts. Although Ironhead has passed away, his football talent has carried over to his son Cam Heyward, who played 4 years as a Defensive End for Ohio State. Cam is now hoping to be drafted in the 2011 NFL draft. If Ironhead was still alive he would be hoping so too.

So here's one more cheer for Ironhead. Iron-head! Iron-head!