MOP Award for 1961: Don Bishop
By Matt Cordon (kh). Filed in Classic Player Profiles, Don Bishop, Most Obscure Player Award |
The winner of the MOP Award for 1961 is probably more recognizable than the player who won for 1960, Dave Sherer. Nevertheless, statistics provide the best reason for us to select former cornerback Don Bishop for the honor. Congratulations, retrospectively.
Bishop played end for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1958, catching three passes for 57 
yards. In two years with Pittsburgh and the Chicago Bears, those three catches, along with four punt returns, remained his only professional statistics. Dallas picked him off of waivers in 1960, and he started at right cornerback for the team in its inaugural year.
In 1961, Bishop began to stand out, grabbing eight picks. Only Everson Walls (twice) and Mel Renfro had more in a season. Moreover, and probably the reason we are honoring him here, Bishop established a team record with interceptions in five consecutive games in 1961. He led the team in picks from 1960 to 1962 (those three years are also a team record), and finished his career with 22, ranking tenth on the team.
Saturday, May 31st 2008 at 5:44 pm
Bishop was great, no doubt about it. Hey, whatever happened to him? I’ve googled him, yahoo search, ask.com, everything, and can’t find ANYTHING. On NFL.com it says that he died, but I can’t find anywhere when he died, or even if that’s true and not a mistake. If anybody knows please help me out. Thank you.