NFL · Pro Bowl
Dave Baker
Safety · 1 selection · deceased · OU 1956-1958
A Pro Bowler as a rookie safety, then a different path in coaching
Dave Baker grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and enrolled at OU in 1955 under Bud Wilkinson. In his three varsity seasons the Sooners went 30-2, during their 47-game winning streak, and Baker played defensive back, quarterback and running back.
The San Francisco 49ers took him fifth overall in the 1959 draft, and he made the Pro Bowl as a rookie safety that season. He was an AP second-team All-Pro in 1960. He played three seasons for the 49ers, 1959 through 1961, and finished with 21 interceptions.
After two years in the Army, he left pro football to start the athletics program at what is now Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Oklahoma, where he became the first athletic director and head basketball coach.
Sources on his Pro Bowl are limited mainly to Pro-Football-Reference, Wikipedia and OU's Pro Bowl page, which all list 1959.