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RIP Cliff Branch

Cliff was a tremendous athlete for CU, excelling in both football and track and field. In the NFL, he was a multi year pro bowl receiver and won three super bowl rings with the Raiders (can’t help where you’re drafted). He’s been nominated for the pro football HOF but hasn’t been inducted. Hope he gets in. RIP Cliff.
 
sad news.....great Buff, one of many iconic Raiders from that NFL era.

edit: CB's world class sprinter speed and ability to stretch a D......made the whole Al Davis vertical passing game possible in 70's and prototype for the 80's Raider success. not unbiased (though not at all a Raider fan), but that seems HOF worth to me.
 
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I feel like as CU fans we overlook just how great Cliff Branch was. And I don't mean with the Raiders where he had the best NFL career of any Buff ever and, with the expanded class in 2020, should finally get his overdue enshrinement and become the first Buff in the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year.

But in Boulder, Cliff was unbelievable.

Reading the obituary on BuffZone they summarize his time on the gridiron at CU as: "For the Buffs, Branch played two seasons of football and totaled eight touchdowns (five rushing, three receiving) to go along with 1,019 scrimmage yards." Besides leaving out his contributions as a returner (I'll get to that), this sentence completely misses his impact.

1971 was one of the best teams in CU history (in terms of talent and accomplishment, 1971, 1989, 1990, 1994 are together on a tier of their own above the rest). Cliff Branch was named MVP of that 1971 team. He only had 13 receptions and 9 carries that season. Eddie Crowder later regretted and blamed himself to not adapting the offense more to Branch's abilities. Cliff, being who he was (ask any Raiders fan and they will tell there was no more friendly and accessible former star than Cliff), told Crowder, "Coach, we finished as the third-ranked team in the nation. We can't look back on that now. I'm proud of what I did, and I'm proud of you."

Setting aside the limited amount of his touches at CU, let's look at what he did with them because holy sh!t.

In 11 games before the Bluebonnet Bowl in 1971, he had 13 catches for 330 yards and 3 TDs, 9 carries for 235 yards and 4 TDs, and also was 2-of-4 passing for 88 yards and 1 TD. So there were 26 times he touched the ball on offense. Those 26 plays netted 653 yards -- 25.1 yards per time he touched the ball on offense! And those plays resulted in 8 TDs -- nearly a third of the time! So while he didn't touch the ball often, when he did it was covering a quarter of the field and going for six about once every three times.

Oh yeah, and he was possibly the greatest returner in NCAA history! He set the NCAA record with 8 career combined kick/punt returns for TDs. Nearly 50 years later, his name is still in the NCAA Record Book as while this number has been matched, no player has surpassed it. In fact, until 2003, the only other player to reach 8 and match Cliff was the 1972 Heisman winner Johnny Rodgers. And Cliff did it in only two seasons!!

Going back to 1971, Cliff had 4 punt return TDs that season and those punt returns were vital to the success of that team. In the season opener at No. 9 LSU, the Buffs led 10-3 early in the second half when Cliff took a punt 75 yards to the house to spark the 31-21 CU victory. Two weeks later, now No. 10 CU played at No. 6 Ohio State. Once again, Cliff took one to the house, going 69 yards to put the Buffs up 13-0 just before halftime in a game they held on to win 20-14. Two of the biggest road wins in program history, coming in a span of three weeks, and both keyed by Cliff Branch punt return touchdowns.

Totaling up his receiving, rushing and return yards in 1971, Cliff had 1,261 all-purpose yards and a team-high 11 TDs in 11 games, averaging 20.3 yards per his 62 plays! And he also had 4 pass attempts, averaging 22.0 yards per attempt and resulting in 1 TD!

Oh, and he still holds the CU record in the 100-meter dash (among other school track records) by running a 10.0 at the 1972 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Considering he had the best NFL career of any Buff ever and considering how dominant he was whenever he touched the ball at CU, I don't mean to start a debate by saying this as this isn't the place, but in my firmly-held personal opinion:

Cliff Branch is the greatest football player in CU history. Rest in peace, Legend.
 
It was magic watching Cliff play here at CU, after bullet Bob Hayes, Cliff is the fastest player I ever saw play live. He made you feel he would score every time he touched the ball. I had the privilege of meeting him during his time at CU, he was an even better person and the only raider I didn't hate back in the day. RIP Mr. Branch
 
Cliff’s son Brent was a teammate and we got to see Cliff in the 1990 alumni game where he scored what is considered the only legitimate touchdown (non-gadget/trick/set-up play).

He went deep an burned his son on a deep post to the end zone. He was 40 something and was a year out of the arena league. Still one of the fastest guys on the field. An amazing Buff.
 
frostycox said:
I feel like as CU fans we overlook just how great Cliff Branch was. And I don't mean with the Raiders where he had the best NFL career of any Buff ever and, with the expanded class in 2020, should finally get his overdue enshrinement and become the first Buff in the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year.

But in Boulder, Cliff was unbelievable.

Reading the obituary on BuffZone they summarize his time on the gridiron at CU as: "For the Buffs, Branch played two seasons of football and totaled eight touchdowns (five rushing, three receiving) to go along with 1,019 scrimmage yards." Besides leaving out his contributions as a returner (I'll get to that), this sentence completely misses his impact.

1971 was one of the best teams in CU history (in terms of talent and accomplishment, 1971, 1989, 1990, 1994 are together on a tier of their own above the rest). Cliff Branch was named MVP of that 1971 team. He only had 13 receptions and 9 carries that season. Eddie Crowder later regretted and blamed himself to not adapting the offense more to Branch's abilities. Cliff, being who he was (ask any Raiders fan and they will tell there was no more friendly and accessible former star than Cliff), told Crowder, "Coach, we finished as the third-ranked team in the nation. We can't look back on that now. I'm proud of what I did, and I'm proud of you."

Setting aside the limited amount of his touches at CU, let's look at what he did with them because holy sh!t.

In 11 games before the Bluebonnet Bowl in 1971, he had 13 catches for 330 yards and 3 TDs, 9 carries for 235 yards and 4 TDs, and also was 2-of-4 passing for 88 yards and 1 TD. So there were 26 times he touched the ball on offense. Those 26 plays netted 653 yards -- 25.1 yards per time he touched the ball on offense! And those plays resulted in 8 TDs -- nearly a third of the time! So while he didn't touch the ball often, when he did it was covering a quarter of the field and going for six about once every three times.

Oh yeah, and he was possibly the greatest returner in NCAA history! He set the NCAA record with 8 career combined kick/punt returns for TDs. Nearly 50 years later, his name is still in the NCAA Record Book as while this number has been matched, no player has surpassed it. In fact, until 2003, the only other player to reach 8 and match Cliff was the 1972 Heisman winner Johnny Rodgers. And Cliff did it in only two seasons!!

Going back to 1971, Cliff had 4 punt return TDs that season and those punt returns were vital to the success of that team. In the season opener at No. 9 LSU, the Buffs led 10-3 early in the second half when Cliff took a punt 75 yards to the house to spark the 31-21 CU victory. Two weeks later, now No. 10 CU played at No. 6 Ohio State. Once again, Cliff took one to the house, going 69 yards to put the Buffs up 13-0 just before halftime in a game they held on to win 20-14. Two of the biggest road wins in program history, coming in a span of three weeks, and both keyed by Cliff Branch punt return touchdowns.

Totaling up his receiving, rushing and return yards in 1971, Cliff had 1,261 all-purpose yards and a team-high 11 TDs in 11 games, averaging 20.3 yards per his 62 plays! And he also had 4 pass attempts, averaging 22.0 yards per attempt and resulting in 1 TD!

Oh, and he still holds the CU record in the 100-meter dash (among other school track records) by running a 10.0 at the 1972 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Considering he had the best NFL career of any Buff ever and considering how dominant he was whenever he touched the ball at CU, I don't mean to start a debate by saying this as this isn't the place, but in my firmly-held personal opinion:

Cliff Branch is the greatest football player in CU history. Rest in peace, Legend.
Click to expand...

Rep the man. Outstanding post.
 
68buffs said:
It was magic watching Cliff play here at CU, after bullet Bob Hayes, Cliff is the fastest player I ever saw play live. He made you feel he would score every time he touched the ball. I had the privilege of meeting him during his time at CU, he was an even better person and the only raider I didn't hate back in the day. RIP Mr. Branch
Click to expand...
This. I was only a young kid but even I knew then what I know now. I remember thinking I was watching perhaps the greatest player I would ever see. Live, in person. When he went back to field kicks, there was a pretty good chance he would take it to the house. I mean, every damn time. There was a kind of electricity in the air. Sort of like pre-fight when Mike Tyson was in his prime. You knew something was about to happen. Everyone did, and it was glorious.

Now he belongs to the ages. RIP.
 
I remember going to games as a kid and how electrifying Cliff was. When he went back to return a punt, the anticipation of him breaking one was amazing. A very special player, RIP sir.
 
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