Former New England Patriot Arrested With Heroin: Police

A 1960s city football hero from Farrgaut High School and NFL record-holder was arrested Friday afternoon in the West Side's Lawndale neighborhood and charged with possessing heroin.

Mack Herron, 62, was seen walking through into the back door of an abandoned building in the 1600 block of South Drake Avenue on Friday afternoon, police said.  As they stopped him, he allegedly dropped a small tin foil pack containing heroin, they said.

Herron, of the 1800 block of South Hamlin Avenue, was arrested and charged with felony possession of a controlled substance. He is expected to appear in bond court later Saturday.

It was his 20th arrest in Chicago since the late 1960s. The arrests were largely narcotics-related.

Herron was a local football standout at Farragut High School on the West Side in the 1960s. He went on to Canadian Football League after playing college ball at Kansas State, according to his biography on the website for the New England Patriots.

Herron signed on with the New England Patriots in 1973 where in his first season he broke eight Patriot records and tied another.

Herron, who is 5-foot-5, was known as "Mini Mack." The following season he had a combined total yardage of 2,444, shattering the 1966 record held by Gale Sayers for all-purpose yardage, according to the website. Harrison Area detectives are investigating.