Professional Football Player, Coach. For seven seasons (1947 to 1951 and 1953 to 1954), he played at the offensive end and defensive back positions in the National and Canadian Football Leagues with the Philadelphia Eagles and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Born Neill Ford Armstrong, he attended Tishomingo High School in Oklahoma, prior to participating in football, field and track and basketball, during his collegiate years at Oklahoma State University. While with the Aggies, he was a key contributor to Oklahoma State’s capturing of the Cotton Bowl title in 1944 and the Sugar Bowl title one year later (1945). Individually, he distinguished himself as a two-time All-American. Selected by Philadelphia as the 8th overall selection of the 1947 NFL Draft, he totaled 54 career regular season NFL games. Armstrong had the fortune of experiencing the most successful run in Philadelphia Eagles history, as they reached the NFL Title Game three consecutive years (1947 to 1949) and captured the NFL Championship two consecutive times (1948 and 1949). After leaving the NFL, he continued his professional career in the CFL and earned all star status twice in Winnipeg. Following his retirement as a player, he began a lengthy career as a coach, initially as an assistant with the Houston Oilers of the American Football League, followed by a return to the CFL as head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos (1964 to 1969). Armstrong returned to the NFL as an assistant under Bud Grant with the Minnesota Vikings (1970 to 1977). He served as head coach of the Chicago Bears (1978 to 1981) and guided them to a playoff berth in 1979. He moved on to the Dallas Cowboys and served as an assistant under Tom Landry (1982 to 1988) and Jimmy Johnson (1989) before retiring. He was inducted into the Oklahoma State University Athletics Hall of Honor in 1997. (bio by: C.S.)