8 - History

2009FOOTBALLHall of FamersFrancis “Reds” BagnellEdward “Eddie” Bell, Sr.Penn (1996),College (1977)Bagnell was an AllAmerica tailback whostill appears in therecord book. In 1950,he had one of thegreatest individualgames in Penn history againstDartmouth when he accounted for490 yards of total offense (a recordwhich still stands).That year, he finished third inthe Heisman Trophy voting. A WestPhiladelphia native, he won ninevarsity letters in college, three eachfor football, basketball and baseball.Bagnell later became an associatetrustee at Penn. He also servedas chairman of the MaxwellFootball Club, and served a term aspresident of the National FootballFoundation College Hall of Fame,an organization into which he wasinducted in 1977.Penn (1998)One of the greatestdefensive ends inPenn history, Bell wasan All-America in1951 and 1952. Alongwith fellow Hall ofFamer Bob Evans, Bellwas one of the first two AfricanAmericans to play football at Penn.Bell later played in the NFLwith the Eagles and Jets. A talentedmulti-sport athlete, Bell also helpedhis team win the sprint medleyChampionship of America at the1951 Penn Relays.Chuck BednarikPenn (1996), College(1969), NFL (1967)The last of football’siron men, ChuckBednarik was a centerand linebacker whoplayed his entire careerin Philadelphia forPenn and the Philadelphia Eagles.Bednarik entered Penn at the ageof 20 after having flown 30 combatmissions over Germany in WorldWar II. An All-America, Bednarikreceived the Maxwell Award, givento the player whom the MaxwellClub of Philadelphia considers theoutstanding collegiate player in thenation. He was the first offensivelineman to receive the award.He played for the Eagles, still onboth sides of the ball, and was aneight-time all-pro selection.Bednarik is a member of the Penn,College, and Pro Halls of Fame.DeBenneville “Bert” BellPenn (2000),NFL (1963)Bell was one of themost influentialmen in professionalfootball history. Penn’squarterback from1915-19, Bell led theQuakers to the 1917 Rose Bowl. Aftergraduation, Bell got into coaching,including stints at Penn and Temple,but eventually bought the FrankfordYellowjackets of the NFL. Bellmoved the team to Franklin Fieldand renamed them the PhiladelphiaEagles.Bell’s impact as an owner,and later NFL commissioner,was immense. He conceived theNFL draft, sudden-death overtimeand televised night games; he raisedsalaries, increased attendance by 100percent, and banned gambling.In 1963, Bell was the first maninducted into the Pro Football Hallof Fame.Bernard “Barney”Berlinger, Jr.Penn (1996)A football and trackathlete, Berlingercaptained the 1959Penn team whichcaptured the program’s first IvyLeague title. In 1958 he was the firstQuaker to be selected first-team AllIvy, repeating the feat in 1959 whileleading the team in receiving bothyears. He also received Penn’s Classof 1915 award.His father, Bernard Sr., is alsoin the Penn Hall of Fame as a trackathlete.Eliot BerryPenn (2000)Berry was a rarethree-sport athlete inthe 1960’s, excellingat football, squashand tennis. As Penn’skicker, he booted27 career field goalsand 141 total points. An All-Ivyselection in both football and squash,Berry went on to try out with thePittsburgh Steelers and eventuallysigned with the Atlanta Falconsunder coach Norm Van Brocklin.Berry never played a profootball game, but continued toexcel at squash, playing on theU.S. National Team and enjoying asuccessful professional career abroad.J. Howard BerryPenn (1998)One of the early threesport stars at Penn,Berry excelled infootball, baseball andtrack at Penn from 1915to 1917.Berry playedhalfback, punter and placekicker forthe Quakers and was outstandingat each.After graduation, Berry playedprofessional football with thePottsville Maroons but was betterknown for his professional baseballcareer with the New York Giants,winning the World Series in 1921and 1922.George BrookeCollege (1969)George Brooke playedseven years of collegefootball, first as afullback at Swarthmorein 1889-92 and then atthe same position atPenn from 1893-95.A two-time All-America selection,Brooke was a member of teams thatwon 38 of 41 games and two nationalchampionships. Besides being apowerful runner, Brooke was also theQuakers’ kicker. He developed in hispunting a long, low spiral that washard for the receiver to return andeasy for the ends to cover.Donald ClunePenn (1996)Clune smashedvirtually everyreceiving record in thebooks during his careerfrom 1971-73. StillPenn’s third-leadingall-time receiver, Clunetoday holds the record for mostyards in a game (284 vs. Harvard in1971).Clune holds four of the top 10single-game receiving performancesin Penn history. He actually had hisbest season as a sophomore, catching40 passes for 891 yards and fivetouchdowns.Upon graduation, Clune won theClass of 1915 award. In 1980, he wasnamed to the Ivy League’s SilverAnniversary team.Richard “Cosmo” ComizioPenn (2003)Comizio enjoyed acareer packed withvirtually every awardconceivable as arunning back from1984-86.As a sophomore,Comizio ran for 596 yards, earningIvy League Rookie of the Yearhonors; by the time he was a senior,he had racked up Penn’s first-ever1,000-yard season and was namedthe Ivy League MVP. He won anIvy League title in every season heplayed, and after graduation earnedthe Class of 1915 award.Fred DoellingPenn (2003)Doelling was astandout runningback and punter wholed Penn to its firstIvy League title in 1959.A versatile player,Doelling led Penn inrushing for three straight seasons,was an excellent defensive back, andat the time of his graduation held theprogram record with 33 punts for anaverage of 34.7 yards per punt.Doelling went on to sign with theDallas Cowboys and was the lastPenn player to play in the ChicagoTribune’s annual all-star gamepitting college seniors against theNFL champions.Robert EvansPenn (2005)Robert “Bob” Evans,C’53, was a three-yearletterwinner in footballwho served as thatteam’s first AfricanAmerican captain.In an era when Penncompeted against high-poweredprograms, Evans caught the sportingworld’s attention when he was namedcaptain of the Quakers in 1952.Evans also was a member of theScholastic All-America team in 1948.At Penn, his standout performancesearned him high praise fromopponents, and he was named toNotre Dame’s All-Opponent team.Chris FlynnPenn (1998)Chris Flynn waspossibly the mostversatile and skilledathlete at Penn inthe 1980s, earningAll-Ivy honors andsetting school recordsin both football and lacrosse, whileleading his teams to five leaguechampionships.Flynn made the All-Ivy Leaguesecond team his sophomore andsenior seasons, with first-teamaccolades coming his junior season.In his three years on the gridiron, theQuakers won two championships.In Flynn’s senior year versusDartmouth, he tied a Penn recordwith five touchdowns in one game.Flynn’s average of 5.7 yards per carryover his career is still tops at Penn.Charles GelbertCollege (1960)Charlie Gelbert wasa four-year starter forPenn. Walter Campnamed him AllAmerica end in 1894,1895, 1896. Gelbertwas recognized for hissharp blocking and tackling. In hislast three seasons Pennsylvania went12-0, 14-0, 14-1 and had a 34-gamewinning streak. In Gelbert’s fourvarsity seasons Penn outscored itsopponents 1,594 to 130. Jack Kofoed,writing in the Philadelphia Record in1912, named Gelbert to his all-timeAll-America team.T. Truxtun HarePenn (1998), College (1951)Hare is one of a just afew men to be a fourtime All-American.Selected as an inauguralmember of the CollegeFootball Hall of Famein 1951, he has beennamed to numerous All-Time AllAmerica teams.Hare played every minute of everygame at Penn, going 15-0 in 1897 and47-5-2 in his career. Hare was also onthe 1900 Olympic track team at Paris,placing second in the hammer throwand first in the tug of war.Harvey HarmanCollege (1981)Harman was presidentof the American FootballCoaches Associationand winner of the AmosAlonzo Stagg Awardfor outstanding serviceto the sport. He took hisfirst coaching assignment at Haverfordand later coached at Sewanee, Penn andRutgers.Harman went on to become theExecutive Director of the NationalFootball Foundation and Hall of Fame.In that capacity, Harman became knownas the goodwill ambassador for football.133PennAthletics.com

UNIVERSITYOFPENNSYLVANIAHall of FamersJohn HeismanCollege (1954)John Heisman, forwhom the covetedHeisman Trophy isnamed, was a masterinnovator of football.He originated thehidden-ball play, wasthe first to place his quarterback atsafety on defense, invented the centersnap, dreamed up the concept of thescoreboard, introduced the “hike”vocal signal for initiating a play, ledthe fight to reduce the game fromhalves to quarters, and was in theforefront of the move to legalize thepass in 1906.Heisman played every lineposition while at Brown and Penn.He coached at Oberlin, Akron,Auburn, Clemson and Georgia Techbefore coaching at Penn from 1920 to1922, then coached at Washington &Jefferson and finally Rice. His overallcareer record stood at 185-70-17when he retired in 1927.Bill HollenbackPenn (1996),College (1951)A hard-nosed runningback, Hollenbackplayed on nationalchampionship teams in1904 and 1908, servingas captain in 1908. Hestarted every game in 1906, 1907 and1908, and was an All-America in 1906and 1908.He went on to coach at Penn State,Missouri, Syracuse and PennsylvaniaMilitary, and was also an official.Hollenback was famous for histoughness. He once played an entiregame despite having a leg fracture,dislocations of both shoulders, shinsplints and hip bruises.Bryan KeysPenn (2008)A two-time AllAmerican, includingfirst-team honors hissenior year. Set theschool’s single-seasonrushing record as ajunior with 1,165 yards,then broke his own mark a yearlater with 1,302 yards. Obliteratedthe single-game standard for yardswith 249 against Brown. Set six otherrecords during his career. Finishedhis senior season fourth nationally inall-purpose yards per game, seventhin rushing yards per game, andseventh in points per game. When hegraduated, was second among Ivyplayers in career yardage. Had 15100-yard games. Helped Penn win ashare of the 1988 Ivy title.Bernie LemonickPenn (1996)During his brilliantcareer for the QuakersBernie Lemonick wasregarded as one ofthe top linemen in thenation. Honored as anAll-America after the1950 season, he played in the EastWest Shrine game, the Hula Bowland on the NFL’s College All-Starteam against the Cleveland Browns.134PennAthletics.comLemonick returned to Penn andhelped coach the team to its first IvyLeague championship in 1959.Jack McCloskeyPenn (2000)A varsity letterwinnerin football, basketballand baseball,McCloskey was a trueall-around athlete. Hewas an All-America infootball, was offeredto play professional baseball for thePhiladelphia Athletics and playedprofessional basketball with thePhiladelphia Warriors. He was a fivetime member of the All-Star teamand earned back-to-back EasternLeague MVP honors in 1953 and1954.McCloskey returned to Pennin 1956, coaching the basketballprogram to its first Philadelphia Big5 championship in 1963 and the firstIvy League Championship in 1966.He later built the Detroit Pistonsteam that won two NBA titles in1989-90.Josiah McCrackencaptain for his two final seasons.He scored 30 touchdowns duringhis three-year varsity career, 15in his senior season alone. Theseaccomplishments all came withoutany secondary school footballexperience.As a senior, Mercer was named tothe United States Olympic Team andparticipated in the broad jump.Jack MindsCollege (1962)Fullback Jack Mindswas a master of thegame. He operatedat guard, tackle, end,halfback and fullback,and revolutionizedthe kicking gamefrom 1894-97. He didn’t think dropkicking was accurate enough so hedecided to try something new. Asa result, Minds converted the firstkick from placement, a feat he oftenrepeated during his illustrious career.Honored with three All-Americaselections by Walter Camp, Penn was55-1 with two undefeated NationalChampionship seasons with Mindsin the line up.Penn (2000)McCracken playedguard on the secondhighest scoring teamin Penn footballhistory (443 points).The following yearMcCracken was namedan All-America and finished hisPenn football career with a record of47-5-2.In his sophomore year McCrackenset a world record for the hammerthrow and was an All-Americaselection for his efforts. He went onto participate in the 1900 OlympicGames in Paris. There, he won asilver medal in the shot put andfollowed that with a bronze medal inthe hammer throw.Penn (1996),College (1985)Skip Minisi was anAll-America halfbackwho rushed for 1,390yards in his Penncareer (1944-47). His150 points scored isstill the seventh highest career totalin school history. He was describedas a top wingback in the countryand a polished all-around performerwho was a good runner and blocker,and a devastating southpaw passer.Minisi went on to be the Giants’number one draft pick and laterserved as a college football official formore than 30 years.Ed McGinleyGeorge MungerPenn (1996),College (1979)Ed McGinley was atackle on what wasconsidered the topdefensive unit inthe nation, one thatallowed opponentsonly 31 points in 11 games. Whenselecting McGinley for his 1924All-America team, Walter Campsaid, “He has that greatest of assets- consistency. He has played nopoor games. He is an ideal tackle forour team, possessed as he is of thenecessary weight and power to fulfillthe requirements of both modernattack and defense.”Upon graduation McGinley wenton to play for the New York Giants.Penn (1996)College (1976)George Munger was asuperb, relaxed athlete,an innovative coach,and a meticulousadministrator. Heplayed halfback from1930-32 at Penn and starred on thetrack team. He went on to coach,and in his 16 years as Penn’s headcoach he compiled an 82-42-10 recordand led teams to national rankingsof No. 8 in 1945 and No. 7 in 1947.He served as vice-president of theNational Football Foundation, vicepresident of the Maxwell Club,president of the American FootballCoaches Association and directorof the Pop Warner League. He wasalso a member of the U.S. OlympicEquestrian Committee and thephysical fitness committees underPresidents Roosevelt, Eisenhower,and Kennedy.Lee MercerPenn (1998),College (1955)Lee Mercer first made areputation by breakingthrough enemydefenses as one of theprogram’s outstandingrunning backs. Mercerwas twice named All-America, in1910 and 1912, and served as teamSkip MinisiFranny MurrayPenn (1998)Franny Murray was atwo-sport All-Americaand the 1937 winner ofthe Class of ’15 Award.On the gridiron, hewas a member of the“Destiny Backfield” of1936 ,and excelled as a ball carrierand a control kicker. In 1936, he wasnamed to the All-United States team,a squad of 11 men who could playa full 60-minute game. Murray wasalso an outstanding guard for thebasketball team, and was named aHelms Foundation All-American in1937. After Penn, he played with thePhiladelphia Eagles in 1939 and 1940.Bob OdellPenn (1996),College (1992)Bob Odell did it allfor Penn in 1943. He

National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame, located in South Bend, Ind. In addition, two men — Bednarik and Bert Bell — are members of both the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Bednarik is regarded as one of pro football’s all-time greats, while Bell holds the