Lonnie Perrin

 An extremely talented and highly recruited athlete from McKinley High School Lonnie Perrin grew up in Washington D.C.  and went on to University of Illinois. His career is described as “plagued by injuries” but despite injuries he still rushed for over 900 yards and scored 10 touchdowns his senior year. He also tied a Fighting Illini record when he kicked a 52-yard field goal against Penn State in 1972.
In 1976 he was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the 5th round. He ran the ball, caught the ball, returned kickoffs and even handled kickoff duties. Lonnie Perrin stayed with the Broncos for the next 3 seasons and was a major part of their runningback rotation during the Bronco’s Super Bowl run of 1977. That year he was the team’s second leading rusher and in 1978 he had the most yards rushing. And even though he was considered primarily as a backup during his time with Denver he was the franchise’s 10th All-Time Leading Rusher when he left. He finished his career in 1979 spending 9 games with the Chicago Bears and 5 with his hometown team, the Washington Redskins.

 Leaving Pro Football he went back to Washington D.C. where he worked with Disadvantaged Youth. His community work had such an impact that he was recognized by the Virginia State Legislation after his passing in January of 2021.