Professional Football Player. Born in Faribault, Minnesota, he was best known as a halfback for the University of Minnesota Gophers football team which won back-to-back National Championships in 1940 and 1941. As captain of the University of Minnesota team, he received first team All-American, All-Big Ten honors and won the Heisman Trophy award in 1941. After serving as a pilot in the US Navy during World War II, he played in the National Football League with the Green Bay Packers (1945-47) and Los Angeles Rams in 1948, but soon had to leave the game due to illness. He died of cancer at age 47 at Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota, where he had lived since 1964 when he and his wife Gloria purchased the Hamm's Beer distributorship. They had four children. In 1972, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and his jersey number 54 was the first to be officially retired by the Minnesota Gophers in 1977.
Professional Football Player. Born in Faribault, Minnesota, he was best known as a halfback for the University of Minnesota Gophers football team which won back-to-back National Championships in 1940 and 1941. As captain of the University of Minnesota team, he received first team All-American, All-Big Ten honors and won the Heisman Trophy award in 1941. After serving as a pilot in the US Navy during World War II, he played in the National Football League with the Green Bay Packers (1945-47) and Los Angeles Rams in 1948, but soon had to leave the game due to illness. He died of cancer at age 47 at Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota, where he had lived since 1964 when he and his wife Gloria purchased the Hamm's Beer distributorship. They had four children. In 1972, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and his jersey number 54 was the first to be officially retired by the Minnesota Gophers in 1977.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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