Posted on 08/27/2023 6:24:32 AM PDT by fugazi
Here’s a who’s who of the post-World War II military veterans of the National Football League. I started writing this post back in 2010 and it is still under construction, but if you know of players who I haven’t added to the list yet, put them in a comment.
Ralph Heywood: After playing only five games for USC in 1943, Heywood was drafted by the Marine Corps and sent to the South Pacific aboard the battleship USS Iowa. Despite his short season, he was selected as an All American end and punter. Following the war, he played five seasons for both the NFL and AFL before returning to active duty during the Korean War. He commanded the 26th Marines during Vietnam. Heywood remained in the Marines for 32 years before retiring as a colonel, becoming the only NFL player to have served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
Eddie LeBaron began his professional football career after serving as a platoon commander in 1st Battalion, 7th Marines during the Korean War. He earned the Bronze Star with Combat “V” and two Purple Hearts during the Battle of the Punchbowl, and was the Rookie of the Year in 1952. He was selected to four Pro Bowls over his 11-year career.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike McCormack was named to the Pro-Bowl in his rookie year with the NFL’s New York Yanks, then spent two years in the Army, serving in Korea. When he came back, he found out that he had been traded to Cleveland Browns. Coach Paul Brown called McCormack “the finest offensive lineman I have ever coached.”
One of the players traded for McCormack was Don Shula, who is more famous for coaching the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins than he was as a defensive back...
(Excerpt) Read more at untothebreach.net ...
Give them bread and circuses....
Wow! Players from the age when football was football. Thanks for posting. Brought back the years when I never missed a game on TV. Eddie LeBaron. I can’t remember the last time I heard that name. I haven’t watched any of the new Showboat Football games since the 90s.
Thank you!
My dad was drafted by the NY Giants in the sixth round of 1942 draft. He went into the Marine Corps after he graduated. Under the program he was in he went to Parris Island then to Quantico for officer training. After delays he ended up as a combat engineer platoon commander in the 4th MarDiv ready to land on mainland Japan when the “bombs” we’re dropped. He spent the next few months occupying Okinawa. Returning he played a season with the Miami Seahawks in the All-American league and was on the team for the Giants in ‘47. After that he coached in Alabama and Georgia. He always said he was lucky because a lot of the boys he trained with at Parris Island and Quantico were killed on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Erich Barnes, who played for the Browns and the Giants was a Marine Corps reservist in my platoon at Parris Island in 1959.
Did not know there was an”Miami Seahawks”
It later became the Baltimore Colts which, of course, became the Indianapolis Colts.
The Steagles were the team created by the temporary merger of Pennsylvania’s two National Football League (NFL) teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles, during the 1943 season.
The two franchises were compelled to field a single combined team because both had lost many players to military service during World War II. The league’s official record book refers to the team as “Phil-Pitt Combine”, but the unofficial “Steagles”, despite never being registered by the NFL, has become the enduring moniker.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steagles
I’ll have to add him to the list. What kind of platoon did you serve in?
I had the same gloves Paul Hornung is wearing. They were standard issue when I served. In fact, I still have a pair (though the wool inserts have been replaced over the years).
I still use mine
“I still use mine.”
So do I, when appropriate. However, when it gets really cold up here in northern Illinois, I pull out Dachstein four-ply boiled wool mittens, over which I wear leather chopper mitts. Keeps my hands toasty.
Chuck Bernarak,(#60, Phila Eagles) last of the 60 minute men. Staff Sargent and Waist Gunner in US Army Air Force during WW2. Know for “The Hit” Considered the hardest Hit in NFL history. Some team mates of Gifford thought he had died.
Someone (you?) posted the photo of Roger Staubach. He would have been a Viet Nam era vet. If those are included, I would offer the only NFL player killed in Viet Nam. Robert (“Bob”) Kalsu. All America lineman at Oklahoma and drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 1968 draft, and as an Army soldier 1 Lt in 1969. He was, and still is, legendary in Oklahoma for his commitment to country and refusal to avoid/defeat the draft. He said that is what he was raised to do. There are many things written about him, and his induction to the Buffalo Bills Ring of Honor, but none do him justice. The Bills had nominated him as their Rookie of the Year. Now, football fields are named after him, portraits hang in places of honor, and many are inspired by his commitment to service. https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/all-of-us-owe-former-sooner-vietnam-vet-bob-kalsu-a-moment/article_2a60ddb4-5d4c-5c4f-848c-b5f338231184.html
Kalsu is featured, as is Don Steinbrunner, who died when his C-123 was shot down in 1967
I’ll probably do a separate series of posts on World War II football players like Bednarik. It would take a lot more research, because there isn’t nearly as much information on that era, and pretty much everyone served.
Platoon 102 in boot camp.
I’m sure it brings back memories.
Seeing those glowing faces of our Vets playing sports (as they should be doing) brings a smile to my face.
Yeah, I stopped watching when free agency came in.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.