Chuck “Concrete Charlie” Bednarik, a 1969 College Football Hall of Fame inductee from the University of Pennsylvania, passed away Mar. 21. He was 89 years old.
Born May 1, 1925, in Bethlehem, Pa., Bednarik attended Liberty High School, where he began his football journey. A formidable force at 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds, Bednarik led the football team to an undefeated season as a junior, and he also starred on the baseball and basketball teams. Following his graduation, he entered the United States Army Air Forces, and he served as a B-24 waist-gunner with the Eighth Air Force.
By the time Bednarik entered Penn in 1945, he was already 20 years old, and he had flown 30 combat missions over Germany as a gunner. Bednarik operated as a 60-minute player at center and linebacker, even in a time where rules allowed for free substitution.
Playing for Hall of Fame coach George Munger, Bednarik led the Quakers football team to a 24-7-1 record during his career. A three-time All-American, he finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting in 1947 and third in 1948. During his 1948 All-America season, Bednarik was awarded the Maxwell Award, presented to the college player of the year. His outstanding career led to his election to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969.
Bednarik was the first player drafted in the 1949 NFL Draft, by the Philadelphia Eagles. He played 14 seasons as a center and linebacker for the Eagles from 1949-62. He was a member of two NFL Championship teams in 1949 and 1960. A tough and highly effective tackler, Bednarik was perhaps best known for knocking Frank Gifford of the New York Giants out of football for more than eighteen months in 1960 with one of the most famous tackles in NFL history. He was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection and a 10-time All-Pro selection. His career earned him enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967.
After his pro career, Bednarik served as a longtime chairman of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, which oversees boxing and wrestling in the state. Bednarik’s former Eagles number, 60, is one of nine numbers retired by Philadelphia. In 1987, he was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame. In 1995, the Maxwell Football Club began awarding the Chuck Bednarik Award, presented annually to the defensive collegiate player of the year.
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