MIX, RONALD JACK

MIX, RONALD JACK (Ron; "The Intellectual Assassin"; 1938– ), U.S. football player, member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the American Football League Hall of Fame. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Mix attended the University of Southern California on a football scholarship. He entered the school as a 180-pound end but by the time he graduated was up to 250 pounds due to an intensive weight-training program. Mix was a starter for three years (1957–59), and co-captained the 1959 team that had a record of 8–2-0 and tied for first in the Pacific Coast Conference. Mix was named consensus All-America first team, AP All-Pacific Coast first team, All-Big Five first team, MVP USC Lineman Award, and won the Trojaneer Diamond Award as the senior athlete who did the most to further the reputation of USC. In 1960, Mix was drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Colts of the NFL and the Boston Patriots of the newly formed American Football League. The Patriots traded Mix to the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers, for whom he played tackle from 1960 to 1969, and then with the Oakland Raiders for the 1971 season. Mix played in five of the first six AFL title games, winning the 1963 championship 51–10 over the New England Patriots. He was an All-AFL selection eight times as a tackle and once as a guard, and played in eight AFL All-Star games (1961–68). Mix was known for his excellent speed and strength, and for his quick charge and accomplished blocking on both passing and running plays. Mix, one of only 20 men who played the entire ten years of the AFL, played in 142 career games, with only two holding penalties assessed in his career. He was unanimously chosen for the AFL's all-time team in 1969. His coach with the San Diego Chargers, sid gillman , said, "Ron Mix was one of the greats of all time … I think he's the greatest tackle who ever lived." He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. (Elli Wohlgelernter (2nd ed.)