Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

Perhaps no Colorado athlete went on to accomplish more after their athletic career, than Byron White. As a football player, White led the nation in rushing with 1,121 yards in 1937 (when CU was a member of the RMAC). The Buffs went on to beat Rice in the 1938 Cotton Bowl. White was also a .400 hitter on the baseball team, and a starter on the Buffs basketball team that went to the NIT. White was also student body President and a Rhodes scholar. After being named All-American, White went on to be the first round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates (now Steelers). In 1938, White led the NFL in rushing, then left to attend Oxford University for post-graduate work in 1939. He returned to the NFL in 1940, where he played for Detroit, and once again led the league in rushing. White was named to the NFL's all-decade team of the 1940s. During the off season he received his law degree from Yale. During World War II, White was an officer for naval intelligence, and earned a Bronze Star while serving in the South Pacific. During that time, White formed a relationship with John F. Kennedy. In 1962, then President Kennedy appointed White a justice of the United States Supreme Court, where he served until retiring in 1993. White authored 994 opinions while serving on the high court. White passed away in April of 2002 in Denver.