Safety
No. 20
Mississippi
Jimmy's combination of speed, fearlessness and sure tackling can be intimidating to larger opponents.
As a rookie he returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown, then returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown in the same game. In the 1956 championship game, he returned an interception 28 yards to set up a score for the victorious Giants. In 1958, Jimmy led the NFL with 11 interceptions and from 1958-62 was both All-Pro and a member of the Pro Bowl squad.
Jimmy has played every game in the last nine seasons except one missed in 1959 due to an injury. With the trade of Sam Huff and the retirement of Andy Robustelli, he is one of only three, Roosevelt Brown and Jim Katcavage being the others, remaining from the Maramen's last world championship.
ANDY NELSON
Safety
No. 26
Michigan State
Although Andy's 199 yards on eight interceptions led the NFL in 1958, and he was All-Pro in 1959, it was in pressure situations during Baltimore's two championship seasons that Andy rose to the occasion. In a contest with the Packers in Milwaukee in '58 with the score tied 17-17 in the fourth quarter, his interception returned for a touchdown (and the PAT) was the margin of victory for Baltimore. In a '59 battle with the Lions at Briggs Stadium, Detroit leading 24-14 in the fourth quarter, Andy's 33-yard interception and six points scored (and the PAT) trimmed the deficit to 24-21 in an eventual 31-24 Colt triumph.
More recently, in the sixth game of the 1963 season in Detroit, the Lions leading 21-19 in the fourth quarter, Andy's clutch grab, 26-yard romp to the end zone and 25-21 Colt win put Baltimore's record at 3-3, just two games behind West leading Bears and Packers, with Baltimore facing those teams in the following two weeks.
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