Larry Hand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.
| No. 74 | |||||||||||||
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| Position | Defensive end | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | July 10, 1940 Paterson, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Butler (Butler, New Jersey) | ||||||||||||
| College | Appalachian State (1960–1964) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1964: 10th round, 132nd overall pick | ||||||||||||
| AFL draft | 1964: 21st round, 163rd overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Lawrence Thomas Hand (born July 10, 1940) is an American former professional football defensive end who played 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions from 1965 to 1977. He was selected as the Lions' most valuable player in 1972.
A native of Paterson, New Jersey, he played college football for the Appalachian State Mountaineers football team and was selected as a first-team NAIA All-American in 1964. He is one of only five Appalachian State football players to have had his jersey number (71) retired.
Hand was born in 1940 in Paterson, New Jersey, grew up in West Milford, New Jersey, and attended Butler High School.[1][2][3] When he began high school, he was five feet, six inches tall, and weighed 135 pounds. He did not play varsity football until his senior year and, even then, was not a starter.[2][4] After graduating from high school, Hand took a job working as a mason in Butler.[2]
College football
Hand grew to be six feet, four inches tall, and 215 pounds, and enrolled at Appalachian State Teachers College in Boone, North Carolina.[2] He began playing college football for the Appalachian State Mountaineers football team in 1962 at age 22 under head coach Jim Duncan.[5] At the end of his junior year in 1963, he was unanimously selected as a first-team tackle on the All-Carolinas Conference football team.[6] He was also selected as the outstanding lineman in the conference.[7] After his senior year, he was selected as the most valuable player in the Carolinas Conference.[8] He was also named to the NAIA All-America team,[9][10] and was the only player selected as a first-team player on both the offensive and defensive units of the NAIA District 26 team—he was picked as a tackle on offense and an interior lineman on defense.[11] His #71 jersey was later retired by Appalachian State,[5] one of only four Appalachian State jerseys to be retired.[4]
