PRAIRIE VIEW – Did you know that one of the greatest ball-hawks in the history of the NFL started his college career at center?

Well, turns out that was the case for Ken Houston, a rangy, cerebral safety who starred at Prairie View A&M before going on to become one of the most electric and decorated defenders the game has ever seen.

Houston's journey to immortality started with an opportunity. Despite being a standout at Dunbar High School in Lufkin, Texas – about 150 miles northeast of the Hill – he found college interest hard to come by. Only one school stepped forward: Prairie View A&M.

""I was hungry to become a better football player," Houston said in an interview with Bleacher Report. "(PVAMU) was the only school willing to offer me a scholarship. I've always had a strong work ethic and I took advantage of my opportunity to get better as a football player and person."

After a brief stint on the offensive line, Houston later found his footing at linebacker and quickly developed into one of the best defenders the Southwestern Athletic Conference has ever seen. Houston played alongside a team with several future NFL talents such as Otis Taylor, Jim Kearney and Alvin Reed. He garnered all-conference honors and was later drafted by the Houston Oilers in the ninth round in the 1967 AFL-NFL Draft.

Houston assumed the role of starting free safety two games into his rookie campaign and two weeks later, he scored a pair of return touchdowns. The rest, as they say, is history.

As good as Houston was – he was well known for his insatiable hunger for knowledge and improvement in addition to having the prototypical athleticism and physicality for the position – what made him the best safety of his era was how devastating he was with the ball in his hands.

Simply put, he was Ed Reed before Ed Reed. Houston sniped 49 interceptions over a stellar 14-year career, during which he won all-league acclaim with the Oilers in 1969 and 1971, and then was either All-Pro or All-NFC with the Redskins every year from 1973 to 1979.

In 1986, Houston got the call that so many others before and after him had hoped for: He was to be enshrined in Canton in his first year of eligibility. The man known in some circles as the best safety of all-time would unequivocally be recognized as one of the game's greatest.

Who could argue? After all, Houston was selected for either the AFL All-Star game or the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl 12 straight seasons from 1968 through 1979. He also recovered 21 fumbles and scored 12 touchdowns, nine on interceptions and one each on a punt return, a fumble return, and a blocked field goal return.

He holds the record for most defensive return touchdowns in a season with five. No defensive back has been named to more consecutive all-star/Pro Bowl games than Houston's 12.

He is by most every measure, a legend of the game. Not only in Prairie View A&M's history, but the history of football in general.

Not bad for a safety who nearly ended up on the offensive line.