Ed Champagne
New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame
Football, 1940-50
S.J. Peters High School/LSU/NFL
Inducted: 1993
Champagne, who starred at S.J. Peters, went on to become an All-SEC selection as a tackle for LSU in 1946 while playing alongside Y.A. Tittle and Steve Van Buren, also a New Orleans Sports Hall of Famer. Following his collegiate career, he was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the 18th round (163rd overall) of the 1947 NFL Draft and played four years with the Rams.
Nicknamed "Sparkling" Champagne, he was an all-metro and all-state star at Peters High in the last 1930s. A 6-2, 170-pound tackle, he received scholarship offers from Auburn, Stanford, and LSU, and he chose to stay close to home.
"I wanted to go to LSU," he said. "I was signed by Red Swanson. When (head coach) Bernie Moore saw skinny me, he asked Swanson if he was drunk when he selected me."
His collegiate career was interrupted by a stint serving military duty in World War II, but after returning to the team, he was successful enough to get drafted by the Rams.
Champagne played in 39 games with the powerhouse Rams teams at offensive and defensive tackle, playing twice in the NFL Championship game – in the 1949 title game, a 14-0 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, he saw 59 of a possible 60 minutes of action. He scored the only touchdown of his NFL career on an eight-yard reception from Norm Van Brocklin in the first week of his final season. He was an all-star for one season (1951) with the Calgary Stampeders but a neck injury forced him to retire from football.
Following his football career. Champagne went onto a a 49-year career as a thoroughbred racing official that took him everywhere from Louisiana to Maine, Nebraska, Ohio and Vermont.
Born December 4, 1921, Champagne died on June 15, 2003, at the age of 82.
