Ken Sanders of Valley Mills was a four-year letterman in football as a defensive lineman and had one of the longest professional football careers of any Howard Payne football player. In his senior year in 1971, Sanders was First Team All-Lone Star Conference and Second Team Little All-American. That year, Howard Payne finished the year ranked No. 3 in the NAIA national rankings with a 9-1-1 record, a Lone Star Conference Championship and a berth in the inaugural Cowboy Bowl in Lawton, Okla. Sanders graduated in 1972 and was drafted in the third round of the NFL draft by the Detroit Lions with the 65th pick. He played eight years with Detroit and two years with the Minnesota Vikings.