Ron Beagle, a 1986 College Football Hall of Fame inductee from the U.S. Naval Academy, passed away Sept. 8 in Sacramento, Calif. He was 81 years old.

Beagle was a tremendous blocker, played defense and caught passes for Navy, starring in a time when end was an all-around, 60-minute position.

The two-time First-Team All-America (1954, 1955) selection led the Midshipmen to a 21-0 victory in the 1955 Sugar Bowl over Ole Miss. Beagle received the 1954 Maxwell Award as the college player of the year after catching 30 passes for 451 yards and four touchdowns.

During Beagle’s three varsity seasons, Navy finished in the top 20 in both major wire-service final polls in 1954 and 1955, including a No. 5 finish after their 1955 Sugar Bowl victory. He caught 64 career passes, mostly from George Welsh (a College Football Hall of Famer as a coach), for 849 yards and eight touchdowns.

A 17th-round selection by the Chicago Cardinals in the 1956 NFL Draft, Beagle opted to answer the call of duty instead of playing professional football and served four years in the U.S. Marines. After the Marines, he embarked on a successful career with Butler-Johnson Corp., a wholesale distributor of premium surfacing solutions in Sacramento.

Beagle was born Feb. 7, 1934, in Hartford, Conn. He and 1981 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Roger Staubach played football for the same high school (Purcell in Cincinnati), played college football at Navy, won the Maxwell Trophy, made the All-America team and were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.