Robert Hezekiah Epps (March 25, 1932 - November 14, 2014) was an American football fullback who played three seasons for the New York Giants. He played for them from 1954 to 1955 and in 1957; he missed the 1956 season because he was in the Army. He went to college at Pittsburgh.
He had 188 rushes for 771 yards and 2 touchdowns in his career. He also had 18 receptions for 109 yards.
Early life
Epps was born on March 25, 1932, in Swissvale, Pennsylvania. He went to high school in Swissvale also. In high school he played football and basketball. He scored over 30 touchdowns in three years of high school. Epps is one of three Swissvale High School players to play in the NFL. The other two are Emil Karas and Carmine DePascal.
College career
Epps played college football at Pittsburgh. He did not play in 1950. In 1951 he played in 10 games and had 116 rush attempts for 316 yards with a 2.7 average. He also had 15 receptions for 198 yards. He finished the 1952 college season with 106 rush attempts for 502 yards. He also had 6 receptions for 21 yards and a touchdown. He led the Panthers in rushing yards that season as they finished 6–3. In 1953 he led the team in rushing yards again when he had 100 rush attempts for 424 yards. He also had 5 receptions for 3 yards. After his senior season he was named All-State and All-East honors.
Career rushing and receiving statistics
Awards and Honors
1953 All-State Honors
1953 All-East Honors
Professional career
1954 season
Epps was drafted in the 14th round (161) by the New York Giants. Of the 29 players the Giants drafted in 1954, Epps was one of 7 to ever play in the NFL. He wore number 35. In his 1st NFL game, he had 7 rushes for 14 yards as the Giants beat the Chicago Cardinals 41–10. He did not have any statistics in week 2 but in week 3 he had 8 rushes for 30 yards as the Giants beat the Washington Redskins 51–21. He did not have any statistics in week 4. In week 5 he had 6 rushes for 26 yards. Then in week 7 he had 4 rushes for 21 yards. From week 8 to week 12 he had 5 rushes for 19 yards and 3 catches for 12 yards. In the 1954 NFL season, he had 30 rush attempts for 110 yards during 10 games. His longest rush of the 1954 season was 11 yards. He also had 5 catches for 20 yards. He did not score any touchdowns in the 1954 season. The Giants went 7-5 that year.
1955 season
Epps was injured in pre-season and missed the first three games. In his first 1955 game (week 4), he had 16 rush attempts for 65 yards against the Chicago Cardinals. The Giants won, 10–0. In week 5 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Epps had 5 rush attempts for 13 yards. He also had 2 receptions for 3 yards. Then in week 6 against the Washington Redskins, he had 6 rush attempts for 18 yards as the New York Giants won 35–7. He also had 1 catch for 2 yards. His next game was his best game; the Giants lost to the Cleveland Browns, 14-24 but Epps had 13 rushes for 80 yards. In week 8 of the 1955 season, he had 11 rushes for 46 yards as they won against the Baltimore Colts. His next game was a 31–7 win over the Philadelphia Eagles where he had 14 rushes for 51 yards and his first career touchdown. He also had 1 reception for 0 yards. He had his second career touchdown the next week, a 35–35 tie against the Cleveland Browns. In the game he had 9 rushes for 29 yards. He had 9 rushes for 34 yards the next week and 12 rushes for 39 yards in his final week. He finished the year with 95 carries for 375 yards. He also had 5 receptions for 8 yards. Epps had the second-most rushing yards for the Giants in 1955. He fumbled once and had one recovery. His only two career touchdowns were in this season.
1956 season
He missed the 1956 season due to being in the Army. However, that was the year that the Giants won the championship.