Oregon State, 1963
• 1962 Academic All-America®
Terry Baker was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Hall of Fame in 1991.
A stand-out basketball recruit, Terry Baker began as a point guard at Oregon State University. As a sophomore Baker chose to play football and his career took off his junior year with 1,743 total offensive yards. As a senior and team captain, Baker dominated the two college sports. In 1962, he led the nation in total offense, with 2,276 yards, as well as leading in passing yards, touchdown passes, points accounted for and passer rating.
Baker won the Heisman trophy with 707 total points over Louisiana State’s Jerry Stovall and his 618 points. He also won the Maxwell Trophy, was a football All-American, an Academic All-American, was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, was a Helms Foundation Award recipient and was the winner of 14 player of the year awards, including the AP, UPI and The Sporting News.
Following a successful football season, Baker took the lead on the basketball team. He led the Beavers to the final four of the NCAA tournament and was named an Academic All-American. Baker is the only athlete to have both won a Heisman Trophy and played in the Final Four. As an OSU mechanical engineering student, he was a member of the honor society, Pi Tau Sigma.
In the 1963 NFL Draft, Baker was the first overall pick of the Los Angeles Ram, where he played for 3 seasons. After wrapping up his NFL career, Baker played for the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL while attending University of Southern California Law School.
Baker has practiced law in state and federal courts, as well as in the U.S. Court of Claims and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. As a founding partner of the law firm Tonkon Torp, Baker practiced litigation of product liability, eminent domain and contract cases. Baker is a former chairman of the board and a current director of the American Automobile Association.
The 1962 recipient of the coveted Heisman Trophy, Baker also was Sports Illustrated magazine’s “Sportsman of the Year.” Prior to entering law school, he played professional football with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos. Baker was inducted into the GTE Academic All-American Hall of Fame and received the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.