I am not a football fan anymore. I gave it up in the 1970s. Too many deliberate injuries. People trying to injure guys on the other team so they couldn’t play. I got tired of it.
But I was a football fan, and a Chicago Bears fan, before that. My favorite player was Harlon Hill, who passed away last Thursday at the age of 80. He played wide end (to show you how long ago that was, they don’t have a position called that any more) for the Bears in the 1950s. He was rookie of the year in 1954 and most valuable player in 1955. Back in the ‘50s, a team could find players that nobody else knew about. George Halas found Harlon Hill at Florence State Teachers College in Florence, Alabama.
I don’t remember a whole lot about Harlon Hill. I was pretty young. But he was my favorite player, and even today, whenever I hear the number 87, I think of him.
If you can get through the Chicago Tribune’s digital wall, Fred Mitchell has a nice remembrance of Harlon Hill here. Here is an excerpt:
“In college, Hill was the favorite target of quarterback George Lindsey, who would become an actor and played ‘Goober Pyle’ on the Andy Griffith Show.
Hill said Lindsey's favorite play to call in the huddle was: ‘Harlon, go long.’”
Here’s my Harlon Hill football card:
Comments