Larry Grantham, an undersized linebacker who as the defensive captain of the Jets helped the team upset the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, a watershed game in the history of professional football, died on Saturday in Jackson, Miss. He was 78.
His son, James Larry Grantham II, said the cause was complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
In his 13 seasons, from 1960 to 1972, with the Jets and their predecessors, the New York Titans, Grantham was believed to be the lightest linebacker in either the American or National Football League. Outside linebackers are now commonly about 6 feet 4 inches and 250 pounds.