Al Akins
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| No. 80 | |||||
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| Position: | Halfback / Defensive back | ||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Date of birth: | June 13, 1921 | ||||
| Place of birth: | Spokane, Washington | ||||
| Date of death: | August 29, 1995 (aged 74) | ||||
| Place of death: | Reno, Nevada | ||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||
| Weight: | 199 lb (90 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school: | John R. Rogers High School | ||||
| College: | University of Washington, Washington State University | ||||
| NFL Draft: | 1944 / Round: 6 / Pick: 53 | ||||
| Career history | |||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 1948 | |||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||
| Games: | 25 |
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| Rushing Yards: | 112 |
Albert George Akins (June 13, 1921 – August 29, 1995) was a professional American football halfback and defensive back who played three seasons for the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills and Brooklyn Dodgers in the All-America Football Conference.
Akins was a native of Spokane, Washington and attended Washington State University and later the University of Washington, where he played football and basketball. He was a key member of a University of Washington team that lost the Rose Bowl Game in 1943 to the University of Southern California. Akins played for the Browns in 1946, and subsequently joined Buffalo and Brooklyn. He won an AAFC championship with the Browns, although he did not play in the championship game due to an injury.
After his playing career, Akins became an assistant football coach at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He went on to become head coach of Southern Oregon University for 15 years starting in 1955. His coaching record at Southern Oregon was 71–62–3.
Akins grew up in Spokane, Washington and attended John R. Rogers High School, where he played on the basketball team and ran track. His brothers Frank and Hal were also standouts as athletes.
Akins lettered in basketball at Washington State College in 1940 and 1941, but did not play football. By the end of 1943, Akins had transferred to the University of Washington, where many Washington State players went to train in the U.S. Navy. He played football there, starring as a halfback for the Washington Huskies. He was also said to be a good passer. The 1943 team went undefeated and was heavily favored to beat the University of Southern California in the 1944 Rose Bowl. The USC Trojans won 29–0, however. Akins fumbled the ball in the third quarter, setting up one of the Trojans' touchdowns.Jim Hardy, the USC quarterback, said after the game that the team's "only real fear was that that fellow Al Akins might get loose on the runback of a punt for a touchdown."
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