If Steve Van Buren played in today’s NFL, people would mention him in the same breath as the biggest stars in the game.
Since he played in the 1940s and early 50s, Van Buren isn’t as widely known among fans.
However, that doesn’t diminish what he accomplished.
Over eight years as a running back for the Philadelphia Eagles, Van Buren set a host of league records.
AATBirds Top 100 #Eagles
5. HB Steve Van Buren (1944-51)
• 2x NFL Champion
• 5x 1st Tm All-Pro
• 2x 2nd Tm All-Pro
• 4x Rushing Leader
• 1940s All-Decade Tm
• Eagles & NFL HOF
• NFL 75th and 100th Anniversary Tms
• Eagles 75th Anniversary Tm
• No. 15 Retired
• 87 G |… pic.twitter.com/HtOYwKYEqb— All About The Birds (@AATBirds) July 26, 2024
Among them were: the first player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, the first player to rush for 10 touchdowns in a season, and the NFL career record for rushing touchdowns and rushing yards.
Additionally, “Supersonic Steve” led the league four times in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, led the NFL in scoring once, and was a two-time world champion.
Following retirement after the 1951 season, Van Buren coached, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and ran an antique shop, a used car dealership, and owned a dance hall before he died in 2012.
This is the story of Steve Van Buren.
The Orphan from Honduras
Stephen Wood Van Buren was born on December 28, 1920, in La Ceiba, Honduras.
In the 1940s and '50s, few running backs were more potent than the @Eagles Steve Van Buren, who retired in 1951 holding the NFL's career records for rushing attempts, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.
Van Buren was born #OTD in 1920. #HOFForever pic.twitter.com/Nxj1mYENfF
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) December 29, 2022
After his parents passed away when he was 10, Steve and his three sisters and brother were sent to live with their grandparents in New Orleans.
Van Buren loved sports, but he was small and usually shooed away from games that required contact.
It wasn’t until he arrived in the States that Van Buren discovered the game of football.
The sport fascinated him.
As a sophomore at Easton High School in New Orleans, Steve went out for the team, yet was denied again.
“It [football] seemed like a good game, so I went out for the team. But I only weighed a hundred twenty-five pounds, and all the coach would let me do was run up and down the field—not play or scrimmage. When it came to actually playing football, he told me to forget it. He was afraid I’d get hurt,” said Van Buren.
Not long after the rejection, Van Buren dropped out of school and went to work in a foundry.
Two years later, he returned to Easton and tried out for the football team again, this time about 30 pounds heavier with lean muscle mass.
He played end (receiver) and did well, scoring 16 touchdowns as a senior.
LSU
Van Buren did so well in his lone high school season that then-LSU head coach Bernie Moore offered him a scholarship.
During the day, he attended engineering classes before heading to practice where Moore had him playing blocking back, primarily for starting tailbacks Leo Bird and Alvin Dark.
His highlights from his first few years were: in 1941, he took a short screen pass from Bird and sprinted 62 yards, and as a junior in 1942, he had 15 rushing attempts for 43 yards.
LSU doesn’t just send players to the league — it sends them to Canton. Steve Van Buren, Y.A. Tittle, Jim Taylor, Johnny Robinson, Kevin Mawae, and Alan Faneca pic.twitter.com/3jiAP44aoB
— LSU Football Report (@LSUReport) December 31, 2025
Then, in 1943, with World War II in full swing, a number of college football players were called into military service.
After Van Buren was ruled exempt from service because of a chronic eye issue, he returned to campus in 1943.
Because of the war effort, the Tigers’ roster was bereft of starting-caliber tailbacks.
That’s when Moore decided to move Van Buren to the position.
1943
Turns out, Van Buren was a natural.
Using his speed (timed at 9.8 seconds in the 100-yard dash) and brawn, the six-foot, 200-pound tailback shocked the Georgia Bulldogs in Week 1 with four rushing touchdowns, including the final score of the afternoon with 35 seconds left.
By the time the Tigers faced Georgia Tech on November 6, the team was 5-1 (the lone loss was against Texas A&M on October 9), and Van Buren was one of the best running backs in the nation.
“He probably was the greatest running back in Southeastern Conference history, and I used him as a blocking back until his last year. The folks in Baton Rouge never let me forget that,” Moore commented years later.
The Yellow Jackets crushed LSU, 42-7, and Tulane blanked the Tigers a week later, 27-0 (Van Buren was out with injuries both weeks).
Dads and Grandpas use to share stories with their kids and grandkids about the Great Former LSU Players…those days seem to have disappeared. LSU Football has only produced one NFL Leading Rusher Steve Van Buren and he did it 3 times(45'-47'-48'). He passed away today 8/23/12… pic.twitter.com/sj7luPxo4F
— richard condon (@CondonBeingReal) August 23, 2024
Sitting at 5-3, Moore and company were shocked when they were invited to the Orange Bowl.
Their opponent would be Texas A&M, the same program that had beaten LSU in October.
“The hardest thing in football is to beat the same team twice,” Aggies head coach Homer Norton said before the contest.
Van Buren, who was affectionately dubbed “The Moving Van” and “Supersonic Steve,” did his part to keep the Tigers in it.
In a hard-fought 19-14 LSU victory, Van Buren busted loose for 160 yards while adding a 62-yard gallop for a touchdown in the third quarter and a halfback pass to Burt Goode for another score.
Philly Selects Supersonic Steve
Van Buren’s performance helped LSU win its first-ever bowl game.
During his senior year, he rushed for 847 yards on 150 carries and an earth-shattering 16 touchdowns.
He also passed the ball 35 times for 160 yards.
Van Buren’s scoring total was the best in the country, and he was honored as a first-team All-SEC and (questionably) a third-team All-American.
Moore spent the next few months calling his contacts in the NFL, preaching about Van Buren’s immense talent.
The Philadelphia Eagles, who had their first winning record in 1943 (5-4-1) since their inaugural year in 1933, selected Supersonic Steve with the fifth overall pick in the 1944 NFL Draft.
NFL Network releases their #Eagles Mt. Rushmore:
• Steve Van Buren
• Brian Dawkins
• Reggie White
• Chuck BednarikThoughts? 👀 pic.twitter.com/1P9n3QKShj
— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) June 23, 2024
In his rookie year with the club, Van Buren started six games and rushed for 444 yards, an NFL-best 5.6 yards-per-attempt, and five touchdowns.
He also returned a punt and kick for touchdowns.
Philly improved immediately and ended the year with a 7-1-2 record.
A season later, the Eagles went 7-3 while Van Buren started nine games, rushed for a league-high 832 yards, 15 touchdowns, and a league-best 83.2 yards-per-game.
HOFer Steve Van Buren gets the corner and cuts it back
also, great uni matchup @Uniwatch#FlyEaglesFly #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/ofveKutRRq
— ᑭᖇO ᖴOOTᗷᗩᒪᒪ ᒍOᑌᖇᑎᗩᒪ 🏈 (@NFL_Journal) December 31, 2022
He also added two receiving scores, another touchdown on a kick return, and was named a first-team All-Pro.
His rushing touchdowns set a franchise record for a single season, and Van Buren’s 18 total touchdowns set an NFL single-season record.
Wham-Bam Blasts Off
In 1946, Van Buren rushed for 529 yards and five scores, a punt return touchdown, and led the NFL with 58.8 yards per game, leading to second-team All-Pro honors as Philly ended the year with six wins.
Then, in 1947, the franchise and Van Buren took off like a rocket.
Legendary head coach Gresy Neale’s bunch went 8-4, while Van Buren’s mix of speed and terror led to another nickname, “Wham-Bam.”
“When Steve carried the ball, he struck fear in the heart of the defense,” said his teammate, Russ Craft. “He leaned forward so much and ran so hard, you could actually see the dirt fly off his cleats. When he hit the line, he looked like a bulldozer going through a picket fence.”
That season, the back led the NFL in attempts (217), yards (1,008), touchdowns (14, including one on a kick return), yards-per-game (84.0), touches from scrimmage (226), and yards from scrimmage (1,087).
“Hard to tackle. I don’t think you wanted to play against Steve Van Buren.” – Bill Belichick
Steve Van Buren was a tough runner who defenses did not want to face. #NFL100
📺: NFL 100 All-Time Team on NFL Network pic.twitter.com/5WoZfFlAWG
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) November 23, 2019
Van Buren’s rushing total was the first time in NFL history that a running back rushed for over 1,000 yards in a season at a time when the league played only 12 games.
The Eagles beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round of the playoffs (the franchise’s first-ever playoff berth and playoff victory) before losing to the Chicago Cardinals in the NFL Championship.
“I hope they win the Western title next year, too,” said Neale, “so that we can have the pleasure of knocking them off in Philadelphia.”
During the contest, Van Buren scored a touchdown and became the first NFL player to score a touchdown during the championship game on his birthday.
The Eagles Celebrate a Championship
Van Buren was one of the best players in the NFL by 1948, and in many football historians’ opinions at the time, one of the best in league history.
“(Red) Grange had the same ability to sidestep, but he didn’t have Van Buren’s power to go with it,” said Greasy Neale.
As Philly won nine games, “The Moving Van” ran for league highs in six stats, including 945 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Neale got his wish from the year before when the Eagles met the Cardinals again in the NFL Championship Game, this time in Philadelphia.
On the day of the game, the City of Brotherly Love was hammered with a blizzard.
#OTD in 1948, the Eagles won their first NFL Championship 🏆
In an extreme blizzard at Shibe Park, the Philadelphia Eagles & Chicago Cardinals combined to complete only 5 passes. However, the great Eagles halfback, Steve Van Buren, opened up scoring in the late 4th quarter and… pic.twitter.com/OHk9FGROrP
— Eagles History (@EaglesHistory) December 19, 2024
League commissioner Bert Bell asked the teams if they still wanted to play, and they gave a thumbs up.
Van Buren had to use the services of three trolleys and then walk six blocks to Shibe Park.
Then, both teams helped the grounds crew remove the tarp covering the field.
Once the contest finally started, the weather didn’t let up.
“There was so much snow that I couldn’t see the safety man from my halfback position,” Van Buren said.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Philly finally got the opportunity it wanted.
Chicago fumbled the ball on its side of the field, and the Eagles recovered.
Just four plays later, Van Buren ran in from five yards out for the only score of the day.
Eagles #15 – Steve Van Buren, RB (1944-51)
– Drafted in 1944 (Round 1: Pick 5)
– 5x All-Pro
– 83 Games, 69 TD, 5860 Yards pic.twitter.com/W5RriOV0Kg— Philly Sports By Number (@philly_number) September 28, 2026
The Eagles’ 7-0 win was the first title in team history.
“We had worked so hard,” said Van Buren, “and finally the reward was there. Even old Greasy was choked up.”
Back-To-Back Champs
The Eagles’ 1948 championship season turned out to be an appetizer for its fans.
In 1949, Philly rolled over teams to finish 11-1 (the lone loss was to the Chicago Bears in Week 4) and outscored their opponents 364-134.
Van Buren rushed for a career-high 1,146 yards (which led the NFL) and 12 total touchdowns (which also led the league), and for the fifth year in a row, he also led the NFL in yards-per-game (a personal best of 95.5).
Most rushing yards in a game in Eagles history:
• Saquon Barkley — 255 yards
• LeSean McCoy — 217 yards
• Steve Van Buren — 205 yards
• Duce Staley — 201 yards— Victor Williams (@ThePhillyPod) November 25, 2024
In Week 10 against the Steelers, Van Buren rushed for 205 yards on just 27 attempts, setting a single-game record that remained for six decades.
“Supersonic” was the first running back in NFL history to lead the league in rushing for three straight years.
Also for the third year in a row, the Eagles qualified for the NFL Championship Game.
This time, they traveled across the country to meet the Los Angeles Rams.
#Eagles at #Rams,
The 1949 NFL ChampionshipIn NFL history's first league title game played west of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Eagles running back Steve Van Buren sloshed 31 times for 196 yards — then NFL postseason single-game records — in the rainy quagmire of the Los Angeles… pic.twitter.com/u7dUAnVRes
— Kevin Gallagher (@KevG163) November 25, 2024
Once again, poor weather followed Philly as the game was played in a downpour of rain.
Regardless, Van Buren ran hard, especially after the Rams players talked a little trash.
“Early in the game, I got knocked out of bounds near their bench,” Van Buren remembered. “One of their guys said, ‘We’re gonna kill you, Steve.’ It made me mad. I told (quarterback) Tommy Thompson, ‘Give me the ball.’ So he did. He just kept giving it to me.”
Although Van Buren didn’t score, he still ran the ball 31 times for 196 yards, a championship game record that stood until Timmy Smith of the Washington Redskins broke it in Super Bowl XXII.
Van Buren Retires
In the locker room after the title game win, Clark Gable, one of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars, visited the Eagles and gave Van Buren a compliment.
“You’re the greatest athlete I’ve ever seen,” Gable said.
Van Buren thanked him, then, after Gable walked away, asked his teammates who the gentleman was.
When they realized Wham-Bam wasn’t joking, the players burst out in laughter.
“Steve didn’t get out a lot, obviously,” tackle Al Wistert said.
In 1950, Van Buren led the NFL with 188 rushing attempts and 190 total touches from scrimmage while running for 629 yards and four touchdowns (despite a broken toe and fractured ribs), while Philly went 6-6.
In 1944, a bruising "rookie" halfback from LSU burst onto the NFL scene in Philadelphia, leading the league with a 5.6 yards/carry average. Steve Van Buren would go on to top the league in rushing 4 of the next 5 years and was the first ever RB to record two 1,000-yard seasons. pic.twitter.com/hMrex8No5f
— BMW Sportscards (@BMWSportscards1) January 12, 2023
Then, in 1951, he had 327 yards and six touchdowns as the Eagles won just four times.
During the preseason in 1952, Van Buren broke his leg and decided to retire.
Otherworldly Career Stats
In eight seasons, Van Buren rushed for 5,860 yards and 69 touchdowns, caught 45 passes for 523 yards and three touchdowns, returned 34 punts for 473 yards and two scores, and returned 76 kicks for 2,030 yards and three touchdowns.
His rushing yards, touchdowns, and total points stood as league records for decades.
Lest anyone forget, Van Buren also played in the defensive secondary and collected nine interceptions for 81 return yards and recovered 14 fumbles.
He was a two-time NFL champion, seven-time All-Pro, a four-time NFL leader in both rushing yards and rushing scores, and the NFL’s scoring leader in 1945.
15 Days until #Eagles Football!
Steve Van Buren: An All-Time Great
2x NFL Champ | 5x All-Pro
5,860 Rush Yds | 77 Tot TDS #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/1hmuXGLf51— All About The Birds (@AATBirds) August 20, 2025
Van Buren set several NFL records, including the first player to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season (twice) and the first to rush for at least 10 touchdowns in a season (four times).
The former running back has since been added to the Eagles’ Hall of Fame and the organization’s 75th Anniversary Team.
His number 15 was also retired by the franchise.
Additionally, Van Buren has been honored as a selection for the NFL’s 1940s All-Decade Team, 75th Anniversary Team, and 100th Anniversary Team.
LSU placed him in its Athletics Hall of Fame, and the state of Louisiana added Van Buren to its Hall of Fame.
Steve Van Buren #Eagles RB from 1944 -1951. Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1965. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/EmQyCJ8wMs
— Gayle Saunders (@EagleSessions) August 3, 2018
In 1965, he received the ultimate honor of being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“Basically, I’m a shy person,” he once said. “I almost didn’t go to my Hall of Fame induction. My family made me go. Once I got there, I was glad. But I didn’t like a lot of attention. I never did.”
Second Career and Death
Van Buren wasn’t out of the pro game for long.
Shortly after retiring, he coached semi-pro ball for a few years while also serving as a scout for the Eagles.
In 1956, Van Buren was the backfield coach for Philly, then led the Franklin (New Jersey) Miners to a combined 27-5 record in 1958 and 1959 before leading the Newark Bears franchise to the 1963 Atlantic Coast Football League championship.
Eagles coach Greasy Neale with Pete Pihos, Steve Van Buren and Al Wistert circa 1948. Only Wistert is not in the HOF despite being an 8X All-Pro & member of the 1940s NFL All-Decade Team @Ol_TimeFootball @sigg20 @NFL_Journal @nflthrowback @SportsDaysPast pic.twitter.com/WqqkePRts0
— Eagles Over the Years (@EaglesOrtheYear) April 13, 2020
Following stints with other pro teams including the Philadelphia Bulldogs and Pottstown Firebirds, Van Buren retired as a coach.
In the next few decades, he owned a used car dealership, opened a dance hall, ran an antique shop, and frequently visited horse races.
Van Buren passed away on August 23, 2012, at the age of 91 from pneumonia while living in a nursing home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
“On the field and off, as a player, a leader, and a man, Steve Van Buren embodied the finest characteristics of our city and our sport,” said team owner Jeffrey Lurie. “He was a friend and an inspiration to generations of fans, and the model of what an Eagle should be.”
References
https://www.pro-football-reference.com
https://www.profootballhof.com
https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com
https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com
https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu
https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com
https://www.sports-reference.com
https://www.profootballhof.com
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