Two VFL Football Players To Be Inducted Into the Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame

On Thursday, the Tennessee Volunteers announced the 12 new members that would enter the Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame, with two football players included.

Wide receiver Carl Pickens and defensive lineman Ted Daffer (posthumous) were included in the 12-member class being inducted into the Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame, as announced via press release on Thursday. The new members will be inducted on Friday and honored on Saturday, as well. This is the first new class since 2019. Because of that, this class is larger than the last couple have been.

Carl Pickens played from 1989 to 1991 as a wide receiver. He was an All-American at the position but also saw time as a return specialist and even a defensive back. In his redshirt freshman season, he was an SEC All-Freshman Team selection and had a 93-yard kick return touchdown in a win against LSU in Baton Rouge. In the 1990 Cotton Bowl, he was the defensive MVP with an interception in the win over Arkansas. Pickens was a first-team All-SEC selection in 1990, and in 1991, four organizations named him as a first-team All-American, leading the SEC in yards per game. The track and field star was selected in the second round of the 1992 NFL Draft and was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in his first season in Cincinnati.

Ted Daffer played from 1949 to 1951 as an interior defensive lineman. He was a two-time first-team All-American and the only player on both the 1950 and 1951 first teams. He was named by the Birmingham Quarterback Club as SEC Most Outstanding Lineman in 1950, and in Tennessee’s consensus national championship season in 1951, he led the defense to five shutout performances. The Bears selected him in the 21st round in 1952. Daffer passed away in 2006.

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