Len Hauss obit

Len Hauss, 5-time Pro Bowl center for Washington Redskins, dies at 79

 

 He was not on the list.

Len Hauss, a five-time Pro Bowl center for Washington who started every game over the last 13 seasons of his 14-year NFL career, has died. He was 79.

His daughter, Lana Hauss Snyder, said in a telephone interview Thursday that Hauss died Wednesday at Wayne Memorial Hospital in Jesup, Georgia, after an extended illness.

Washington was the only professional football team Hauss played for during a durable career that spanned from 1964 to 1977 and included 196 total regular-season games, with 194 starts. He also appeared in another seven postseason games, all starts.

Leonard “Len” Hauss was born in Jesup on July 11, 1942.

He was selected to the Pro Bowl as one of the NFL’s top players in 1966, 1968-70 and 1972 and was the center for Washington’s team that reached the Super Bowl at the end of the 1972 season before losing to the Miami Dolphins 14-7.

The club would honor Hauss by inducting him into its Ring of Fame, a group of top people in franchise history whose names are listed on the upper-deck facade at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.

After Hauss retired from football, he worked in the banking industry.

“He loved the game — even after he stopped playing. He loved to watch good football. And he loved to watch honorable men play,” said Snyder, his daughter. “He was a football lover and a fisherman. He loved to fish.”

According to Snyder, other survivors include: Hauss’ wife of 59 years, Janis Hauss; a sister, Lenell Burch; and two granddaughters.

“As my mother likes to say: They were young, small-town children who lived a fairytale life,” Snyder said.

A visitation and funeral service are scheduled for Monday at First Baptist Church in Jesup.

Hauss was born and raised in Jesup, Georgia, where he parlayed his high school talent into a spot on the Georgia Bulldogs football team. He played center and thrived at the position, earning All-SEC honors as a sophomore before entering the NFL in 1964.

Despite going in the ninth round of the 1964 NFL Draft by coach Otto Graham, Hauss quickly earned the starting job for the then-Washington Redskins under Bill McPeak. Despite playing for five different head coaches, Hauss started 192 consecutive games over a 14-year career. He made five Pro Bowls in the process and anchored Washington’s offensive line during the height of the George Allen era.

After being cut ahead of the 1978 season, Hauss retired and went into the financial services industry. He remained there until just a few years ago.

He played with back Charlie Harraway, quarterback Sonny Jurgensen, Larry Brown, Dick Shiner, Sam Huff, Jerry Smith, Charley Taylor, Paul Krause, Brig Owens, Chris Hanburger, Jake Kupp, Ray Schoenke, Charlie Gogolak, Rickie Harris, John Wooten, Mike Bragg, Don Bosseler, Bill Brundige, Pat Fischer, Terry Hermeling, Ken Houston, Roy Jefferson, Billy Kilmer, George Starke, Diron Talbert, John Riggins, Rusty Tillman, Neal Olkewicz, Vince Promuto, Mark Murphy, Harold McLinton, Ron McDole, Jim Kiick, Joe Theismann, Dave Butz, Terry Hermeling, Bill Brundige,  Jake Scott, Calvin Hill and owner George Preston Marshall.