Clair Branch

Clair Maurice Branch (b. March 30, 1937 - d. June 18, 2022) was an American Football player who played the positions of fullback and linebacker for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League from 1960 to 1963 and was a running back for the Texas Longhorns at the college level.

He was born in Kenedy, Texas.^[1] He played high school football at Gaston High School in Joinerville, TX.

Branch played college football at the University of Texas, where he rushed for a total of 565 yards and a 4.2 yards per rush average in 1956, 1958, and 1959.^[2] He helped the Longhorns go to the 1958 Sugar Bowl and finish the season ranked #11 and in his last season he helped them win a share of the Southwest Conference Championship and go to the 1960 Cotton Bowl Classic. He had a 90 yard interception return for a TD against Rice in 1958 that is still tied for the 5th longest interception return and interception return for a TD in school history (and tied for 5th for most interception return yards in a single game).^[3]

He was drafted by the Houston Oilers in the 1960 AFL Draft but instead went to play in the CFL where the salaries were competitive at the time and where his older brother, Phil, had played. He signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and played four seasons with them. In his initial year, he rushed for 508 yards for a 4.8 yards per rush average and was the team's nominee for the Most Outstanding Player award. But from 1961 onwards, he was used mostly as a linebacker. In 1963, he played 4 games for the Roughriders and 4 with the Edmonton Eskimos, where he rushed for only 75 yards and a 3.1 yard per rush average. He played only a single game with them in 1964 and 1965 with no rushing attempt during either year.

After football, Branch pursued a lifelong career in the concrete pipe manufacturing business in Houston.^[4]