This is the third in a series on the Mid Mon Valley Sports Hall of Famers to be honored at the 11th annual banquet Saturday at the Elmo Natali Student Performance Center. For the past 21 years Elizabeth's Craig Cotton has been one of the country's more respected restaurateurs. Last month he opened the Brentwood Express where his specialty is smoked ribs, among others. "My food is smoked and I create my own flavor," said Cotton, who started in the restaurant business in San Francisco. Before getting into the restaurant profession, however, Cotton made a name for himself on the football field on all levels. Cotton was good enough at Elizabeth Forward High and Youngstown State University to make both schools' Hall of Fames. A 1965 Elizabeth Forward High graduate, Cotton also ran track and played basketball for the Warriors. Cotton then picked Youngstown State over bigger schools like Arizona State and the University of Illinois. A 6-4, 210 pounder, Cotton played fullback for coach Dwight (Dike) Beede who called him one of the finest ever to play for the Penguins. Selected by AFL San Diego in the 1969 AFL-NFL draft, Cotton signed with Detroit as a free agent after being released and played 55 games in four seasons with the Lions. He caught 15 passes for 223 yard and one touchdown as the backup to Charlie Sanders. The Lions then traded Cotton and their No.1 draft pick to Chicago for Kansas City Chiefs' first draft pick, which was owned by the Bears, and Chicago's No. 3 selection. As the backup to Earl Thomas, Cotton had 13 receptions for 186 yards in one season. He ended his NFL career with one year at San Diego as the backup to Pat Curran in 1975. Cotton's final NFL numbers were 28 catches for 409 yards and one score in 77 games over six seasons. "The highlight for me was just being there in the NFL," said Cotton. "In those days making a team and playing on the highest level was something. There weren't as many teams over 30 years ago and the big money wasn't there. It was a game. Now they've taken all the violence out of the game to protect the stars and it's all money now." Three of Cotton's teammates -- Lem Barney, Dick Butkus and Dan Fouts -- went on to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Other well-known teammates for Cotton were Alex Karras, Dick LeBeau, Mike Lucci, Mel Farr, Wayne Walker, Greg Landry, Bill Munson, Ed Flanagan, Steve Owens, Rocky Freitas, Wally Chambers, Russ Washington, Coy Bacon and Bobby Douglass. His NFL head coaches were Joe Schmidt, Abe Gibron and Tommy Protho.

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