Talkin’ Sports
With Pat
Chuck
Bednarik, passed away last Saturday. He was the last player to play both
offense and defense. He was also known for being one of the most devastating
tacklers in the history of pro football he played for the Eagles from 1949 to
1962 and was a key member of their last championship team from 1960. Before football
he served in the United States Army Air Forces as a waist gunner on a B-24
which flew on 30 combat missions over Germany. After his service he attended
the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, he played center and linebacker
and was a three time All-American. He was also third in the voting for the Heisman
Trophy in 1948 and won the Maxwell Award that year. He was the first player
selected that year starring on both offense as center and defense as linebacker
and was part of the 1949 Championship team for the Eagles. He is also known for
the hit that knocked out Frank Gifford, who was out of football for 18 months. He
also got into a quarrel with chuck Noll when he was a player for the Cleveland
Browns. He was still vocal against people who also said they were two way
players because they played wide receiver and corner back, which did not have
as much contact as the center and linebacker which he played. He also spoke out
on today’s salaries, pensions including his, and one-way players. I must say
after watching football from 60’s, 70’s, today’s game has changed and some
things are for the best but some of the changes have watered down the game and
now they want to make more so maybe it will be time to pull out the old tapes. Any
way he was a fantastic player and one tough son of a gun to be a waist gunner
in a B-24 which had a high mortality rate in WWII and make 30 missions he was
another one of those unsung heroes.