The Indianapolis Colts have announced the death of their former running back Randy McMillan at the age of 67.
The Colts took McMillan in the first round of the 1981 Draft at pick No. 12 as the Baltimore Colts and he moved with the team to Indianapolis in 1984. McMillan grew up in Maryland and was picked by his hometown team.
McMillan spent his six-year career with the franchise and was forced to retire in 1987, when he was only 28, after he sustained a major leg injury after getting hit by a car.
The incident happened in April 1987 in the early hours of the morning near his Maryland home when he was crossing the road.
According to a 2005 interview with the Baltimore Sun, McMillan shattered both bones in his leg and also needed plastic surgery on the right side of his face.
‘After I realized how close the guy was, I knew he wasn’t going to stop,’ McMilan said. ‘At the last minute, I jumped up in the air.’
Indianapolis Colts have announced the death of their former running back Randy McMillan
McMillan clashed with the then-Colts owner, Robert Irsay, who banned him from the team facilites when he tried to use the gym to help his recovery.
The Colts released him before the start of their 1988 camp and he joined the Miami Dolphins, but could not recover the form that made him such a hit in Indianapolis. Miami released him after two weeks and McMillan’s career was over.
‘I was disappointed,’ McMillian said to the Baltimore Sun. ‘For a year, I kind of isolated myself. I didn’t want to be around anyone. But after a while, it’s like hey, life goes on.
His fury at Robert Irsay, who died in 1997, remained, however. In the same interview, he said of the owner: ‘Irsay’s an idiot. Dollar bills were everything to that guy.’
At college level, McMillan played at Pitt alongside the Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, who spent his entire career at the Dolphins.
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