Penn Quaker legend and College Football Hall of Fame linebacker Chuck Bednarik passed away at the age of 89 early Saturday morning.
Bednarik was a 60-minute player, playing both center and linebacker for the Ivy League’s Penn Quakers. He also punted at times. Bednarik was a three-time All-American and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969, two years after being inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Bednarik was an eight-time Pro Bowl player with the Philadelphia Eagles and was later named to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary Team. “Concrete Charlie” played his college ball at Penn after serving in the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, where he was a First Lieutenant, and flew 30 combat missions in Germany.
Bednarik was the winner of the 1948 Maxwell Award by the Maxwell Football Club and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting that season. Nearly 50 years later the Maxwell Football Club introduced the Chuck Bednarik Award, presented to the top defensive player in the country. Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald won the award each of the first two years the award was presented, in 1995 and 1996.“Pros like myself played football not for money or glory, but for the simplest reason: the love of the game.” - R.I.P. Chuck Bednarik
— Bednarik Award (@BednarikAward) March 21, 2015