On Nov. 27, 1962, Terry Baker won the Heisman Trophy for his achievements during the 1962 season, playing at Oregon State University. He was the first player from a school west of Texas to win the award. In addition to winning the Heisman, he was a consensus first team All-American, was named as the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, and received numerous other sporting awards.

Baker was the first overall pick in the 1963 NFL Draft, taken by the Los Angeles Rams. He played with the Rams for three seasons and then for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL), while earning a J.D. at the University of Southern California Law School. He then returned to Portland where he was a founding partner at Tonkon Torp.