Forrest Behm, a 1988 College Football Hall of Fame inductee from the University of Nebraska, passed away June 29. At age 95, he was the second-oldest living member of the Hall of Fame.

Born July 31, 1919, in Lincoln, Neb., Behm was only five years old when his chances of playing football were almost gone before they started. He was badly burned in a brush fire, and doctors wanted to amputate his leg. His father, Forrest E. Behm Sr., thought that his leg could be saved and helped him with daily rehabilitation until Behm was a teenager. He would not regain full mobility in his leg until his senior year of high school.

Behm graduated from high school in 2.5 years. Because of his prior accident, he was only able to play football during his senior year.  When Behm arrived at Nebraska, he was almost turned away as the team was strapped for money because of the depression. The team could not afford to buy his size 15 shoes, but he was able to join the team after he said he would buy his own.

At 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, Behm was one of the biggest Huskers when he walked on as a tackle. Despite having only one year of football experience in high school, he would go on to become a First-Team All-American in 1940 after leading Hall of Fame coach Lawrence “Biff” Jones’ Nebraska squad to the Rose Bowl against national champion Stanford.

Behm was more than just a football player; he was also class president, a ROTC Cadet Colonel, an honor student, member of the college choir and a recipient of a Harvard Fellowship for graduate study. Behm was named to the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988.

In 1946, Behm joined the Corning International Corporation and rose up the company to eventually become president. He received the 1967 Native Nebraska Centennial Award and was awarded an honorary doctor of laws from the University of Nebraska in 1986. That same year, Behm retired and continued to live in Corning, N.Y. until his passing.