He was a member of the 1957 Detroit Lions team that won the NFL championship and was selected to play in the Pro Bowl that year.

McCord was born in 1933 in Franklin, Tennessee, and moved to Detroit as a boy when his father sought a factory job.

[2][3] He also attended the Battle Ground Military Academy for one year after graduating from high school.

He was a member of the 1952 Tennessee team that was ranked #8 in the final AP Poll and played in the 1953 Cotton Bowl Classic.

As a member of one of the NFL’s defensive lines termed as the Fearsome Foursome, he teamed up with fellow end Sam Williams, and tackles Alex Karras and Roger Brown, forming one of the most dominant defensive lines of the early 1960s.