Cal Football: Brian Driscoll Talks About His Hall of Fame Grandpa - Lance Alworth

`I grew up learning a lot about Bambi and how great a receiver he was.'

Brian Driscoll knew from an early age he would play football. He also learned quickly he wouldn’t be much like his grandfather.

“Growing up, I knew him as my Grandpa Lance,” Driscoll said, “but obviously a lot of people know him as a little more than that.”

The Cal junior center’s grandfather is Lance Alworth, one of the greatest stars of the old American Football League. So fast and graceful one of his San Diego Chargers teammates dubbed him “Bambi,” Alworth was a six-time first-team All-AFL selection and a member of both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame.

Lance Alworth / Photo by Malcolm Emmons, USA Today archives

“I’ve watched a few of the highlights,” said Driscoll, whose mother is Alworth’s daughter. “Definitely a little bit faster than I am — pretty impressive.

"It’s strange watching someone you know as your Grandpa be a pretty good athlete. A little different than I’ve seen him. But it’s also really cool.”

Elusive at 6-feet, 185 pounds, Alworth was such a good athlete both the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates tried to sign him out of high school. But he went to Arkansas to play football, starring as a running back who also led college football in punt return yardage in 1960 and ’61.

Driscoll grew up in San Diego and often went to Chargers games as a kid. Grandpa Lance was always nearby.

“I grew up learning a lot about Bambi and how great a receiver he was,” Driscoll said. “I got a little different skill set than him, which was a little difficult to deal with at first. But I grew to love it.”

Driscoll played tight end in Pop Warner football but by the time he got to Torrey Pines High School was big enough that coaches moved him to the offensive line.

“He apologized because he couldn’t give me a lot of advice about offensive line,” Driscoll said of Alworth, “but he was always super supportive of me and came to every game that he could.”

Alworth is 82, and perhaps no longer a household name except to those who saw him in his prime. But his prime was spectacular.

Lance Alworth / Photo by Malcolm Emmons, USA Today archives

He led the AFL in receptions three times, in receiving yards three times, in touchdown catches three times.

In the era before NFL teams threw 50 passes a game, Alworth had 542 receptions in 11 seasons — nine of them with the Chargers. He totaled 10,266 receiving yards, averaging 18.9 yards per catch, and had 85 touchdowns.

Over a three-year period between 1964-66, Alworth had 203 receptions for 4,220 yards (20.8 yards per catch) with 40 TD catches.

He was the 1963 UPI AFL Player of the Year and a first-team selection to the AFL All-1960s team.

Alworth also was chosen to the NFL 100 All-Time Team, one of 10 receivers on the list along with the likes of Don Hutson, Jerry Rice and Randy Moss. With former Raiders center Jim Otto, he is one of just two offensive players who spent a majority of his career in the AFL on the all-time team.

“I grew up around football because of him and because of my family,” Driscoll said. “It was a great experience.”

Driscoll talks in the video below about the Bears' offensive line, which has been shuffled repeatedly in response to performance and injury:

Cover photo of Lance Alworth by Malcom Emmons, USA Today 

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo