Playing his college ball at the University of North Texas, Abner Haynes elected to stay in his home state, and he would sign with the Dallas Texans of the AFL as opposed to the Pittsburgh Steelers who chose him in the 5^th Round in 1960.  Haynes was the first breakout star of the new league winning their inaugural Rushing Title while being named the AP and UPI MVP.  Haynes, who would also lead the league in Rushing Touchdowns, would do so again in the next two seasons and would accrue over 1,700 All-Purpose Yards in all of his first three seasons, the last of which was an AFL Championship.

Undrafted in 1999 out of North Texas, Brian Waters defied the odds to become a successful Offensive Guard in the National Football League, most notably with the Kansas City Chiefs where he was named to five Pro Bowls (plus one more with New England) and made two First Team All Pros. The 2009 Walter Payton Man of the Year winner is historically the only AFC Offensive Lineman to have won an Offensive Player of the Week Award.