Greenville Leader

Clemson football legend Fred Cone has passed away at age 95.

A member of the school’s Ring of Honor, Cone suffered a broken hip on Dec. 16 and, though he survived surgery, complications prevented him from being released from Prisma Health Oconee Memorial Hospital in Seneca before he died on Dec. 31.

According to the Clemson Tigers website, one of his final acts was watching with great joy from his hospital bed as the Tigers downed Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl.

“I am sad to hear of the passing of Fred Cone,” Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney said, according to the Clemson Tigers website. “He is a true football legend and one of the kindest men I have met. He lived an amazing life, and I know will be missed by many. I am thankful that I was blessed to know him and hear him tell stories of his past Clemson and NFL days. He was truly a special man. May he rest in peace.”

Cone arrived at Clemson under circumstances not many would guess. He never played high school football when he was growing up in Pineapple, Alabama, because there weren’t enough boys in his school to field a team.

In the summer of 1947, Clemson Head Coach Frank Howard received a call from his sister Hazel, who told him, “I have a football player for you, brother, but he has never played football.”  

With just one scholarship spot remaining, Howard placed Cone in the spot sight unseen. The rest is Clemson football history.

By the next season, Cone was a starting running back on Clemson’s 1948 team, which posted a perfect 11-0 record and No. 11 final Associated Press ranking, at the time the highest in Clemson history. Two years later, he was the top player on the 1950 squad, which finished 9-0-1 with the school’s first top 10 final ranking in the AP Poll. Cone had 845 yards rushing and 15 total touchdowns on the way to making first-team All-Southern Conference honors.

Over time, Cone became the first 2,000-yard rusher in school history (2,183), adding 31 touchdowns in his 31 career games. Cone and fellow running back Ray Mathews are still the only players in Clemson history to start on two undefeated teams.

The Green Bay Packers selected Cone as the 27th pick in the 1951 NFL Draft. He spent six seasons with the team and led the Packers in field goals in 1955, the first former Clemson player to lead the NFL in any statistical category.

In 1973, Cone was installed in the Clemson Hall of Fame as a charter member and that same year was named to the state of South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame. Cone was also inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1974 and the Clemson Ring of Honor selection came over just two decades later.

In 1961, Cone returned to Clemson, where he embarked on a long career in athletic administration, eventually serving on Howard’s staff as chief recruiter. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Judy, their four children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.