Professional Football Player. For sixteen seasons (1950 to 1964, 1966), he played at the quarterback position in the National, Canadian and American Football Leagues with the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Toronto Argonauts, San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos. Born Tobin Cornelius Rote, Jr., he attended Harlandale High School (Texas) and played collegiate football at Rice University with whom he helped lead the Owls to a Southwest Conference title. Signed by the Packers during the 2nd round of the 1950 NFL Draft, he immediately assumed the role of Green Bay's starter quarterback. He quickly developed into one of the top passers in the league, as he led the NFL with 180 completions in 1954, 17 touchdowns in 1955 and 146 completions for 2,203 yards and 18 touchdown in 1956, which earned him Pro-Bowl honors for the later year. Rote moved onto Detroit in 1957 and split quarterbacking duties with Bobby Layne. After Layne broke his ankle towards the conclusion of the 1957 season, Rote propelled Detroit past San Francisco in a come-from-behind victory in the Western Division championship game and carried them to the 1957 NFL Championship over Cleveland. After three years (1960 to 1962) in the CFL where he set multiple quarterbacking records, he landed in the American Football League with San Diego. Under Sid Gillman's high-powered passing offense, Rote led the Chargers to the 1963 American Football League title while receiving Pro-Bowl and league MVP honors. Following his retirement from football, he became a corporate executive in Detroit. He was enshrined into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1974. During his later years, he had endured knee replacement and triple-bypass surgery. He died from a heart attack two weeks after having back surgery.