Buddy Cruze

{{Short description|American football player (1933–2018)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Buddy Cruze

| image =

| caption =

| number = 86

| position = End

| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|05|24}}

| birth_place = Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2018|03|10|1933|05|24}}

| death_place = Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 4

| weight_lbs =

| high_school = Knoxville (TN) Austin-East

| college = Tennessee

| draftyear = 1956

| draftround = 12

| draftpick = 143

| pastteams =

• Chicago Bears ({{NFL Year|1957}})
• Baltimore Colts ({{NFL Year|1958}})
• Montreal Alouettes ({{CFL Year|1959}})

| highlights =

• First-team All-American (1956)
• First-team All-SEC (1956)

| statseason =

| statlabel1 =

| statvalue1 =

| statlabel2 =

| statvalue2 =

| statlabel3 =

| statvalue3 =

}}

Kyle Layman "Buddy" Cruze (May 24, 1933 – March 10, 2018) was an American football player at the University of Tennessee. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Cruze attended Knoxville High School and East High School. He attended Southern Methodist University and thereafter transferred to the University of Tennessee. He played college football at the end position in 1952 for the SMU Mustangs and from 1954 to 1956 for the Tennessee Volunteers.{{Cite web |title=Kyle "Buddy" Cruze - Football |url=https://utsports.com/sports/football/roster/kyle--buddy--cruze/12270 |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=University of Tennessee Athletics |language=en}} He was selected by the Football Writers Association of America as a first-team player on its 1956 College Football All-America Team.{{Cite book |title=ESPN College Football Encyclopedia |publisher=ESPN Books |year=2005 |isbn=1401337031 |page=1240}}{{Cite web |last=Gangi |first=Ted |last2=Yonis |first2=Josh |title=FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team |url=http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/awards/allamerica/alltime.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190304073432/http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/awards/allamerica/alltime.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2019 |access-date=February 13, 2015 |page=14}} After leaving the University of Tennessee he was 143rd pick overall and drafted by the Chicago Bears in the 1956 NFL draft. He later signed with the Montreal Alouettes in 1959.{{Cite news |date=July 7, 1959 |title=Morgan Johnston Will Head Alouette Football Club Board |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19590707&id=7r8tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vpwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4083,1185280 |work=The Gazette (Montreal) |page=22 |via=Google News}} He was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.{{Cite web |title=Cruze, Kyle "Buddy" |url=http://tshf.net/halloffame/cruze-kyle-buddy/ |access-date=February 13, 2015 |publisher=Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame}} He died on March 10, 2018, at the age of 84.{{Cite web |last=Mattingly |first=Tom |date=March 13, 2018 |title=Tennessee All-American and Knoxville high school legend Buddy Cruze dies at 84 |url=https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/football/2018/03/13/tennessee-all-american-and-knoxville-high-school-legend-buddy-cruze-dies-84/418961002/ |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=Knoxville News Sentinel |language=en-US}}