When Fred Cox retired from the NFL in 1977, the placekicker had scored 1,365 points.
But his most famous score happened when he was approached by an entrepreneur named John Mattox in 1971, explains The Week.
Entrepreneur Mattox wanted Cox to help create a backyard field goal kicking game.
In response to Mattox’s prototype (a heavy football), Cox responded, “You’re gonna have a bunch of sore-legged kids.”
“Cox asked a friend in the injection molding business to create a prototype,” explains The Week, “the resulting foam pigskin was light, aerodynamic, and a hit with neighborhood kids.”
Toymaker Parker Bros. licensed the Nerf (Non-Expanding Recreational Foam) football—a brand you’re all too familiar with if you have kids and grandkids, especially around Christmas.
In retirement, Cox supplemented his income with the royalties saying, “My life has always been one of very good fortune. Things just seem to have come my way.”
RIP Fred Cox.
