Mel Renfro Biography
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- Born Dec. 30, 1941
Melvin Lacy Renfro (born December 30, 1941) is a former American football player, a cornerback who spent his entire 14-year career in the National Football League (NFL) with the Dallas Cowboys. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Born in Houston, Texas, Renfro moved with his family to Portland, Oregon, and he attended its Jefferson High School, starring as a two-way football player and track and field athlete. As a sophomore and junior, he contributed to his team achieving a 23–0 record, including consecutive Class A-1 football state championships in 1957 and 1958. The Democrats' 1958 team is regarded as one of the greatest in Oregon prep history, which had a backfield that included him at halfback, quarterback Terry Baker (1962 Heisman Trophy winner at Oregon State), halfback Mickey Hergert (one of the leading ground gainers in the nation at Lewis & Clark College) and his brother Raye Renfro at fullback (in 1958 he broke a Portland Interscholastic League record with 24 touchdowns). After Baker graduated, Renfro saw playing time at quarterback as a senior in 1959 and was also an all-state selection at running back, as Jefferson pursued a third consecutive title. They again advanced to the championship game, played before more than 21,000 at Multnomah Stadium in Portland, but lost 7–6 to Medford.
In track as a junior in 1959, he helped Jefferson win the team title by winning the 180-yard low hurdles, the 120-yard high hurdles (breaking the state record) and the broad jump state titles. In 1960, he broke two Oregon junior AAU championship records with a 120-yard high hurdles of 13.9 seconds and 19.3 seconds in the 180-yard low hurdles. Renfro also collected 32 points outscoring every team except one, recording the state record with a 24.1 broad jump and winning the low hurdles, high hurdles and the half-mile relay team. He was named outstanding athlete in the Golden West Invitational track meet, which brought annually the nation's top high school seniors. He was Track and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1960.
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