Forrest Blue

Forrest Murrell Blue Jr. (September 7, 1945 – July 16, 2011) was an American professional football center who played eleven seasons in the National Football League. Born in Marfa, Texas, he spent his teenage years in Tampa, Florida, after his father, a United States Army captain, retired there. A 1963 graduate of George D. Chamberlain High School, Blue was a member of the National Honor Society and starred in football, baseball, track and basketball; he was part of the Florida High School Athletic Association Class AA football champions in 1961.

Blue went on to Auburn, where he was a three-year letterman at center for the Tigers from 1965 through 1967 under head coach Ralph Jordan. He played for the College All-Stars in their 34–17 loss to the Green Bay Packers on August 2, 1968.

In the NFL, Blue spent his first seven seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, from 1968 to 1974, before finishing his career with the Baltimore Colts from 1975 to 1978.

Blue was inducted into the Tampa Sports Hall of Fame in 1993, and in 1999 the St. Petersburg Times named him the sixth-best football player ever from Hillsborough County, Florida.