Fans of today’s NFL are used to seeing gargantuan linemen locking horns every week on the field of battle.
In fact, it’s not uncommon to see both offensive and defensive linemen tip the scales at well over 300 pounds.
Of course, this wasn’t always the case.
Ron Mix was arguably the best offensive lineman in the AFL in the 1960s for the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers, and it didn’t matter that he topped out at only 250 pounds.
Nicknamed the “Intellectual Assassin,” Mix’s intelligence and superior technical skills more than compensated for his lack of heft.
Ron Mix of the old San Diego Chargers. Love the hightops! pic.twitter.com/Zo4b9WXXKb
— Sports Days Past (@SportsDaysPast) April 4, 2019
Due to his intense preparation for games, Mix consistently put himself in position to shut down opponents who were bigger and faster.
The results of his near flawless execution as a football player speak for themselves.
During his career, Mix was an AFL champion, eight-time AFL All-Star, and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.
He was also respected across the league as someone who believed in fair treatment for all people, regardless of color.
That conviction prompted Mix to become a lawyer after his playing days and represent those he felt were taken advantage of.
This is the story of Ron Mix.
Growing Up in Los Angeles
Ronald Jack Mix was born on March 10, 1938 in Los Angeles, California.
Happy Birthday to Hall of Famer Ron Mix!#HBD | @chargers pic.twitter.com/cgiqERy3f0
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) March 10, 2022
Long before he became a professional football player, Mix had a tendency to size up his competition.
When he was in fifth grade, Mix found out that he had scored very well on recent student proficiency tests.
The principal of his school suggested that Mix could skip fifth grade if he chose to and go directly to sixth grade.
As he was considering the offer, Mix did some quick calculations.
“I’m only the fourth-best athlete in the fifth grade; if I move to the sixth grade, I will be way down the list,” recalled MIx years later. “Most of the girls in the sixth grade were taller than me, so there was no chance any would like me. A lot of those sixth-grade boys were not only bigger than me, they had muscles; my tough guy ranking would likely go way down. I couldn’t tell the principal what really bothered me about being promoted a grade, so I told him I would rather stay in the fifth grade with my friends. He said that would be OK.”
Mix’s decision not to skip a grade proved wise.
By the time he arrived at Hawthorne High School in Hawthorne, California as a freshman, Mix was only five and a half feet tall and weighed 125 pounds.
Two years later, he was a 5’11”, 155-pound junior benchwarmer on the Cougars’ varsity team.
Finally a starter as a senior, Mix played well enough that he was named an honorable mention for the Pioneer League.
Weight Lifting Changes Mix’s Life
Just after his senior football season ended, Mix had an idea.
He was going to begin lifting weights, try to continue playing football at El Camino Junior College, and then try to make the team at UCLA.
At the time, the idea of lifting weights was blasphemous as football coaches believed that it would lead to tight muscles and make players less athletic.
That idea didn’t make sense to Mix.
He believed that the game was a test of strength against strength.
So, if he hoped to continue playing ball, he had to drastically increase the strength of his 6’2”, 165 pound body.
For the next few months, Mix hit the weights and also embarked in sprint and cardio conditioning.
The extra effort paid off and then some.
In July, after his high school graduation, Mix took part in an all-star game that pitted Pioneer League exiting seniors against athletes from another local league.
There were two weeks of practice that led up to the game and Mix (now weighing 190 pounds) was clearly a different player than just months earlier.
“By the time that all-star practice began, I had transformed,” Mix said. “I wasn’t that clumsy kid anymore. I was a true athlete. I was bigger, faster, and stronger. This sounds immodest, but the truth was I was the best player on that all-star team.”
Mix performed so well that another all-star player gave a heads up to the USC coaching staff.
One of the Trojans coaches, Bill Fisk, came to watch Mix during the game.
“At any rate USC did see me,” continued Mix. “They offered me a football scholarship and I was shocked. I was shocked beyond anything that ever happened in my life that the great USC offered me a scholarship.”
Mix Makes a Vow
Thankful that the USC Trojans had faith in his ability, Mix made a solemn vow not to disappoint the Trojans during his college career.
“I decided that, in return for the football scholarship, I owed USC my complete commitment to do everything possible to become the best player I could become,” said Mix. “That meant regulating my life on and off the field. I vowed to work out year–round and not have any alcohol or sweets or soft drinks during my entire four years at USC.”
As Mix later admitted, he might not have completely stuck to his promise as it related to alcohol or sweets.
“Now, as to total abstinence from alcohol and sweets for four years: Had I indulged moderately in either, it is unlikely that there would have been many adverse physical effects, but each time I declined the temptation, I was reminded of my allegiance to my school, to the football program, to my goal of proving to USC that it made the right decision when it gave me a scholarship,” said Mix.
All-American
USC wasn’t the football power during Mix’s time that it would become under John McKay in the 1960s.
After an 8-2 season in 1956 with head coach Jess Hill, Don Clark took over in 1957 and the Trojans went 1-9.
Mix was moved from end/receiver to the offensive line and helped the Trojans improve to 4-5-1 in 1958.
Did you know #USC wore gold helmets in 1957? Here's All-American and NFL Hall of Famer Ron Mix catching a pass pic.twitter.com/Fy6fRpas0d
— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) May 13, 2015
Meanwhile, he continued gaining strength by lifting weights at a facility outside of school since USC didn’t have its own facility.
In 1959 USC went 8-2 while Mix received the program’s Lineman Award and was also named first-team All-American, first-team All-Big Five, and first-team All-Pacific Coast.
He was also honored as the National Jewish College Athlete of the Year.
During his time in college, Mix minored in English and wrote a number of stories for Sports Illustrated.
Drafted Twice in 1960
In 1960 the American Football League (AFL) began play and the AFL franchises wasted no time drafting players.
The Boston Patriots took Mix in the first round of the AFL Draft and then traded his rights to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Then, in the NFL Draft, the defending league champion Baltimore Colts selected Mix with the 10th overall pick.
74 | OT Ron Mix | All-American 1959 | first round draft pick 1960 (NFL Colts & AFL Chargers) pic.twitter.com/B1oYevWXXG
— Anthony Nelson (@TrojanEmpire) June 16, 2013
For the next several days, both teams countered with contract numbers to entice Mix to sign with them.
The Chargers’ offer was for $12,000 and a $5,000 bonus.
Baltimore balked at matching or surpassing Los Angeles, even though Mix would have taken $10,000 and a $2,000 bonus from the Colts.
Instead, Baltimore told Mix that the AFL would fold after a year and wished him luck.
Back-to-Back Title Games
As fate would have it, Mix went with the better franchise.
While the Colts went 6-6 in 1960, Mix was part of a talented outfit in Los Angeles that was coached by Sid Gillman.
Gillman was a fan of the forward pass and constantly looked for good players that could run his offense.
In 1960, he had quarterback Jack Kemp running the show and Mix started every game of the year at right tackle.
Since everybody is in O-line mode.. Let’s pay tribute to one of the greatest lineman of all time. Chargers lineman and HOFer Mr. Ron Mix 💪🏼💪🏼⚡️ pic.twitter.com/YpXE2ZFp4N
— Brian Rick (@Chargerswin2023) February 4, 2021
Behind Mix’s blocking and Kemp’s right arm, the Chargers went 10-4 and met the Houston Oilers in the AFL Championship.
Both teams were well matched and the Oilers ultimately prevailed, 24-16.
The following year, the Chargers relocated to San Diego and Mix was voted to the first of eight straight AFL All-Star games.
San Diego won 12 games before meeting the Oilers again in the 1961 AFL title game.
Unfortunately, just like the season before, Houston upended the Bolts, 10-3.
San Diego Gets “Juiced” for 1963
After posting a combined 22-6 record in 1960 and 1961, the Chargers hit a significant speed bump in 1962, winning just four games with rookie quarterback John Hadl behind center.
In order to avoid a repeat performance in 1963, Gillman decided to get serious.
The Chargers were ordered to report to Rough Acres, a ranch located one hour east of San Diego, for training camp.
When the players arrived, Gillman introduced them to Alvin Roy, San Diego’s new strength coach.
“[Gillman] said, ‘This man is what every team will eventually have: a strength coach,'” said Mix in 2009.
Lifting weights was already a staple for Mix, so this change in the Chargers routine was right up his alley.
The Chargers were popping pills by 1963.
"It was also where Gillman and his staff handed out little pink pills called Dianabol. It is an anabolic steroid."https://t.co/As8JXq4fIr
— Peirce Conboy (@pgconb) May 26, 2023
However, Roy’s other plan for San Diego was something the players, even Mix, had never heard of before.
“I still remember his [Roy’s] speech, almost verbatim,” Mix said. “He said, ‘Because you’re going to be lifting weights in addition to working out twice a day, you’re going to need more protein.’ And he said, ‘When I was a trainer for the U.S. team in the Olympics, I learned a secret from those Rooskies.’ And he held up a bottle of pink pills, and he says, ‘This stuff is called Dianabol and it’s going to help assimilate protein and you’ll be taking it every day.’ And, sure enough, it showed up on our training tables in cereal bowls.”
Dianabol was an artificial form of testosterone that was legal at the time, so the Chargers players didn’t think anything of it.
“The thing that allowed Sid to make this radical move was the fact that we were coming off what had been our only losing season,” then-Chargers scout Al LoCasale said. “Sid could look ’em in the eye and say we were a lousy football team.”
As training camp progressed, the team crashed into each other on the dusty grounds of the ranch, lifted weights, and popped pills (three times per day according to former players).
“It was probably at the end of the camp, people were talking: ‘Have you noticed anything?’ Yeah, I noticed,” offensive guard Pat Shea said. “The strength was there.”
Championship at Last
When the Chargers returned to San Diego for the regular season, the Dianabol pills weren’t required, thanks partly to Mix’s loud contempt at taking them.
However, they were available upon request to all Chargers players for the next few years.
“It was like the wild, wild West,” guard Walt Sweeney said. “Everything went. There was speed, painkillers, steroids. And if there was a guy around like Terrell Owens at that time, someone would have kicked his ass all over the field.”
Not all of the Chargers took the supplement, including Hadl and second year receiver Lance Alworth.
“The linemen did, and they started looking like Popeye a month later,” Hadl said. “We both decided that we knew what we were doing. We were a quarterback and a receiver,” Hadl said. “Nobody was going to [mess] with us.”
Gillman and Roy’s experiment may have helped the team in 1963, but San Diego had some very good athletes that year as well.
In addition to Hadl, Alworth, and Mix, the organization brought in former Packers and Lions quarterback Tobin Rote to start over Hadl.
Syracuse guard Walt Sweeney was drafted and placed on Mix’s line.
San Diego rebounded considerably in 1963 and went 11-3.
AFL Champion #Chargers sent 7 players to the 1963 AFL All-Star Game:
#83 TE Dave Kocourek
#74 RT Ron Mix
#56 LB Emil Karas
#86 DE Earl Faison
#88 SE Don Norton
#22 FB Keith Lincoln
#77 DT Ernie Ladd
Tobin Rote, Paul Lowe, Lance Alworth, Ernie Wright & Chuck Allen also were named pic.twitter.com/s80rugGpjI— Ken Gelman (@kengfunk) January 27, 2019
Next stop was a meeting in the AFL Championship Game against the Patriots.
Boston had snuck in through the backdoor to play in the title game.
After a 7-6-1 regular season, the Pats beat Buffalo in the divisional round before meeting the Chargers.
During the championship game it was all San Diego as the franchise won its first world title convincingly, 51-10.
More Championship Games, but No Titles
By 1964, Mix was regarded throughout football as the AFL’s best lineman.
Even the normally tight-lipped Gillman had praise for his tackle.
“Ron Mix was one of the greats of all time,” said Gillman. “I think he’s the greatest tackle who ever lived.”
Although he was selected for eight AFL All-Star games and was also a nine-time All-AFL selection, Mix was modest about his ability.
“I play the game mechanically,” he said. “I’m like a guy packing a lunch and going to work. A ditch-digger breaks up clods of dirt, but he doesn’t do it because he hates dirt. He’s just got a job to do. I generally approach football the same way.”
Mix continued digging a metaphorical ditch around his quarterback in 1965 and 1966.
Ron Mix#Chargers pic.twitter.com/UGsVT2oC4d
— Old Time Football 🏈 (@Ol_TimeFootball) September 12, 2022
San Diego won eight and nine games, respectively, those two seasons and finished in first place in the AFC West.
The Buffalo Bills would be their AFL Championship Game opponent both years and outplay Mix and his crew.
In 1964, the Chargers lost to Buffalo 20-7 and were blanked in 1965, 23-0.
Mix Helps Lead a Boycott Before the 1964 All-Star Game
While Mix played for San Diego, he continued writing articles for Sports Illustrated.
In 1965 he wrote a piece about why he helped lead a boycott of the 1964 AFL All-Star contest that was scheduled to be played in January of 1965 in New Orleans.
Shortly after arriving in the Big Easy, a number of Black athletes were not permitted in several restaurants and hotels and were also denied cab service.
Cookie Gilchrist led a boycott of the 1965 AFL All-Star game, convincing AFL Commissioner Joe Foss to move the game to Houston in response to segregation laws.
HOF tackle Ron Mix said “…New Orleans should erect a statue to Cookie Gilchrist… The boycott led to a change…." pic.twitter.com/cX7FlL1LML— Reverend J.R. “Ron” Moonshine-Dobbs (@RevMoonshine716) July 5, 2023
It had been a year since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had been signed, but the new law was slow to be adopted in the South.
The Black AFL players decided to boycott the game and Mix joined them, as he explained later to Sports Illustrated.
“I felt . . .it was important for at least one white player — if the game had to be played in New Orleans — to join the Negroes, to say we’re with you. Dammit, I thought again, this time you’re [AFL] wrong. But your cause is just and we’re with you,” said Mix.
After several more white players spoke up, AFL Commissioner Joe Foss moved the game to Houston.
Mix Retires then Returns to Play
Gillman continued to coach San Diego through the 1968 season.
Although the team had winning records each year, they did not qualify for the postseason.
After a 4-5 start to the 1969 season, Gillman stepped down from his coaching duties citing health problems.
Offensive coordinator Charlie Waller took over and helped the team to a 4-1 record in the season’s final five games.
Meanwhile, Mix had begun attending law school at San Diego State University and became known as “The Intellectual Assassin” due to his high intelligence and brutally efficient play.
When the ‘69 season ended, Mix retired and the Chargers also retired Mix’s number 74.
In 1970, he graduated from law school and asked San Diego management if he could return to play in 1971.
By then, the organization had moved on to younger players so Mix asked to be traded to the New York Jets.
Chargers owner Eugene Klein instead traded him to the Oakland Raiders for two draft picks.
Just seeing Chargers HOF legend Ron Mix in a Raiders uniform during his final season feels so wrong…. pic.twitter.com/CvHxz3EIKy
— PolyesterPalace (@PolyesterPalace) February 25, 2023
Klein then unretired Mix’s number simply because he didn’t like the Raiders’ organization.
Mix reported to Oakland and started four games during the team’s 8-4-2 season in 1971.
He then retired for good after the year.
Legacy
During his stellar career, Mix started 130 out of a possible 142 games.
He was selected for eight AFL All-Star games, was a nine-time All-AFL, and was chosen for the AFL All-Time Team.
Highlighting the career achievements of Hall of Famer Ron Mix.#GoldJacketSpotlight | @Chargers pic.twitter.com/YhIWOXb4FX
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) March 27, 2021
Remarkably, during his time in the AFL, Mix was only penalized twice for holding.
In 1978 Mix was voted to the Chargers’ Hall of Fame and then inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.
He was the second AFL player (after Lance Alworth) to be voted to the Hall.
Since then, Mix has been added to the International Jewish Hall of Fame, Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame of Northern California.
Legal Trouble and Life After Football
Shortly after retiring for good as a player, Mix put his law degree to use.
He was a civil attorney and represented retired pro athletes who were denied workers’ compensation benefits.
Mix also spent time as the World Football League’s Portland Storm general manager in 1974.
For the next few decades, Mix and his wife, Patti, lived the good life in San Diego as Mix continued his successful law practice and the couple took part in charity work.
Then, in 2016, Mix made headlines when he was accused by the IRS of filing a false tax return.
Hall of Fame tackle Ron Mix pleads guilty to tax fraud #BoltUp https://t.co/szielFgEUg pic.twitter.com/VkDcfLmjHc
— Chargers Report (@chargers_fanly) May 23, 2016
According to court records, former NBA player Kermit Washington had referred a number of former pro players to Mix between 2010 and 2013.
In return, Mix paid Washington by sending money to a charity Washington ran.
Mix then deducted the gift with a “charitable contribution” designation.
It was later found that Washington siphoned money from his charity for personal use, though Mix said he knew nothing about what Washington was doing.
The IRS and the State Bar of California later ruled that Mix’s charity gifts to Washington were actually payments for the referrals.
Therefore, Mix was not permitted to deduct the payments as a charitable donation.
In 2019, Mix repaid the IRS $50,000 but was permanently disbarred from the state of California.
Since then, Mix has continued to make his home in the San Diego area.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Mix
https://www.espn.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=3866837
https://psf.app/nfl/fcyui9sigfj3wxlocelpm7lrodsdgc
https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1985/oct/31/cover-the-long-trial-of-ron-mix/
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MixxRo00.htm
https://www.profootballhof.com/players/ron-mix/
https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2016/sep/25/ticker-ronald-grid-loses-law-license/
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