Charles Philip Bednarik (born May 1, 1925 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) is a former professional football player, best remembered as one of the most devastating tacklers in football and the last two-way player in the National Football League.

He played for the Philadelphia Eagles from the late 1940s to the early 1960s and, upon retirement, was voted entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Early life and military service

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Bednarik began playing football in his hometown of Bethlehem in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley area. After graduating from Bethlehem's Liberty High School, Bednarik entered the United States Army Air Forces and served as a B-24 waist-gunner with the Eighth Air Force. He flew on 30 combat missions over Germany and was highly decorated for his honor in battle.

Bednarik subsequently attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he was an All-American. At the University of Pennsylvania, he also was seventh in Heisman Trophy voting in 1948 and won the Maxwell Award that year.

Football career

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Bednarik was the first player drafted in the 1949 National Football League draft, chosen by the Philadelphia Eagles. With the Eagles, he starred on both offense (as a center) and defense (as a linebacker). He was a member of the Eagles' NFL Championship teams in 1949 and 1960.

A tough and highly effective tackler, Bednarik is perhaps best known for putting Frank Gifford of the New York Giants out of football for a year, with one of the most famous tackles in NFL history in 1960.

Bednarik proved extremely durable. In 14 seasons, he missed just three games. He was named All-Pro eight times, and was the last of the NFL's "Sixty Minute Men," players who played both offense and defense on a regular basis.

Bednarik's nickname, "Concrete Charlie," originated from his off-season career as a concrete salesman for the Warner Company, not (contrary to conventional wisdom) because of his ferocious reputation as a tackler. Nonetheless, sportswriter Hugh Brown of The Bulletin in Philadelphia, credited with bestowing the nickname, remarked that Bednarik "is as hard as the concrete he sells."

His number 60 has been retired by the Eagles.

See also

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• Chuck Bednarik Award

External links

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• Pro Football Hall of Fame: Member profile
• The Pennsylvania Football News All-Century Team

1925 births | Living people | American Conference Pro Bowl players | American football centers | American football linebackers | American World War II veterans | Czech-Americans | Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players | National Football League First Overall Draft Picks | Penn Quakers football players | People from the Lehigh Valley | Philadelphia Eagles players | Pro Football Hall of Fame