Chuck Bednarik

Chuck Bednarik embodied the toughness and durability of footballs golden era earning lasting recognition as the NFLs last great SixtyMinute Man while establishing himself among the hardesthitting tacklers in league history Born on May 1 1925 in Bethlehem Pennsylvania to Slovak immigrant parents Bednarik attended Liberty High School before entering the US Army Air Forces service in World War II As a B24 waist gunner with the Eighth Air Force he flew 30 combat missions over Nazi Germany earning the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters the EuropeanAfricanMiddle Eastern Campaign Medal and four Battle Stars Following the war he entered the University of Pennsylvania at age 20 becoming a 60minute man excelling at center and linebacker He earned twotime Consensus AllAmerican honors 1947 1948 won the 1948 Maxwell Award finished third in the Heisman voting and was later voted the greatest center of alltime in 1969 Selected first overall in the 1949 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles the 6foot3 233pound Bednarik played his entire 14year career 19491962 at both center and linebacker winning NFL Championships in 1949 and 1960 He earned ten firstteam AllPro selections 19501957 1960 1961 and eight Pro Bowl appearances while playing 169 of 172 games missing only three contests in fourteen seasons Bednariks playing strengths defined ironman football a strong blocker and quick off the ball as a center an instinctive linebacker who could think like a coach bonejarring tackling that earned him a reputation as one of the hardest hitters in NFL history extraordinary durability rarely missing games unmatched twoway excellence playing complete games on both offense and defense His greatest moments became football legends The Hit on November 20 1960 delivering a clothesline tackle that knocked Giants halfback Frank Gifford unconscious causing a fumble the Eagles recovered to clinch the victory and the Eastern Division crown with an iconic Sports Illustrated photo showing Bednarik standing over the unconscious Gifford becoming an immortalized image the 1960 NFL Championship Game playing 58 minutes at age 35 making the final tackle wrestling Jim Taylor to the ground at the eightyard line and remaining atop him as the clock expired preserving the 1713 victory over the Green Bay Packers his 1954 Pro Bowl MVP performance returning an interception for a touchdown recovering three fumbles and even punting when the punter was injured Following his retirement Bednarik was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 his first year eligible and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969 He served as an analyst on HBOs Inside The NFL inaugural season 197778 and worked in the offseason selling concrete the origin of his nickname Concrete Charlie He became an outspoken critic of modern oneway players and served as chairman of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission Bednarik died on March 21 2015 at age 89 from Alzheimers disease and dementia complications