Sam Claphan

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Sam Claphan (Samuel Jack Claphan) was an American football offensive lineman who played in the NFL for the San Diego Chargers. He was born October 10, 1956, in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and grew up in Stilwell, where he attended Stilwell High School and became an All-American in 1974. He played college football at the University of Oklahoma, where he was a starting lineman on the 1974 and 1975 national championship teams and started from 1975 to 1978. He was about 6'6" tall and 285 pounds, making him the largest OU lineman at the time. Claphan was selected in the second round of the 1979 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns (47th overall) but did not make the roster after a preseason injury. He joined the San Diego Chargers in 1980 and played there through 1987, starting as an offensive tackle and protecting Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts. He appeared in 87 NFL games and started 46, recording one fumble recovery. Claphan, a Cherokee, was inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994. He passed away from a heart attack on November 26, 2001, in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, at the age of 45. He is remembered as the longest-serving Oklahoma lineman in the NFL.