ChiTrib votes George Connor 16th-best Bear of all time.
by G.K.Chesterton (2019-08-21 12:14:59)
Edited on 2019-08-21 12:18:47

Here's the ND-specific stuff, more or less:

Connor, a Chicago native, was born two months premature. Weighing 3 pounds, he was given a grave prognosis. His doctor advised he be fed boiled cabbage juice with an eyedropper in addition to his mother’s milk. Connor’s mother, a nurse, and his father, a general practitioner, took turns caring for him by his bedside for a year until he improbably gained full health.

“Boiled cabbage juice and faith are a strange mixture,” Connor told Rosenberg, “but they saved my life.”

Connor entered De La Salle High School on the South Side still on the small side at 5-foot-3 and 135 pounds, but by the time he graduated he was 6-1, 215. His coach, Joe Gleason, kept him out of contact drills so he wouldn’t hurt his teammates.

An all-out recruiting battle followed, and while Connor wanted to attend Notre Dame, he followed his family’s wishes and went to Holy Cross, where his uncle and namesake, Monsignor George Connor, was president of the alumni association. As a freshman in 1942, Connor dominated, and he led the Crusaders to a 55-12 shocker against No. 1 Boston College at Fenway Park.

Connor joined the Navy in 1944 and was stationed in the Pacific during World War II with Notre Dame coach Frank Leahy, who re-recruited Connor with the promise that he would become an All-American and the Irish would win a national title. Both came true when Connor’s tour ended as he became the first Outland Trophy winner as the nation’s best lineman in 1946 and Notre Dame was voted national champion in 1947.

The Giants drafted Connor with the fifth overall pick in 1946, but Connor informed them he wouldn’t play anywhere but Chicago and went back to Notre Dame. After the 1947 season the South Sider hoped to join the Chicago Cardinals, who had won the NFL title that year, but coach Jimmy Conzelman said the team was full at tackle.

So, Connor went to Halas, who told him, “Stick to your guns, kid, and I’ll get you.”

By that time, the Boston Yanks had acquired Connor’s rights from the Giants, and eventually Halas sent them tackle Mike Jarmoluk for those rights. Halas wanted Connor so badly that he broke his rule of not acquiring a player who employed an agent for one of only three times in the Bears’ first 45 years; the others were Red Grange in 1925 and Dick Butkus in 1965.

Before the 1948 season Connor signed for an unheard-of $13,000 per year for three years with a $6,000 signing bonus. When his new teammates learned Connor made more than established stars such as Bulldog Turner and Ray Bray, they took it out on the rookie.

“When I went to my first training camp, I found out just how poorly that sat with the other players,” Connor told Whittingham. “They really gave me a bad time. Most of the scars I have on my face today are from my teammates that year.”

Connor took the abuse in stride, and his talent and toughness became apparent. At the end of camp Turner said: “Kid, you’re all right. You took everything we gave you. Welcome to the team.”


Also:

He stayed with the team as a broadcaster, teaming for years with Grange, and he was a salesman for a corrugated box company. One of Connor’s greatest skills was public speaking, and he was a regular emcee at local charity events for much of the rest of his life. Connor died of a variety of ailments at 78 on March 31, 2003, in Evanston.

Connor’s sons, George Jr. and Al, never saw him play football but were in awe of their father’s other talent, the Tribune’s Don Pierson wrote on April 1, 2003.

“He was probably just as accomplished as a public speaker,” George Jr. said. “We used to marvel at how little preparation he did. He’d show up at the Notre Dame Club or wherever he was speaking, talk to a few people, jot down some notes and just talk. And he’d be great at it.”





George Connor played hard-even in practice
by olson  (2019-08-21 14:14:18)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

1946

It's lucky Notre Dame had a lot of fullbacks.

#1 A preseason practice before the opener vs Illinois

Connor tackles ND Fullback Bob Hanlon so hard that Hanlon ends up with a deep thigh bruise- so bad that he could barely walk for days afterwards....Connor broke his hand during the tackle...likely when he banged his hand off Hanlon's helmet...

Hanlon was a war vet like Connor-just back from the Navy...Hanlon had lettered on the '43 ND National Champs & then was a backfield teammate of Ara Parseghian on the '44 Great Lakes team.

As I said, Hanlon could barely walk after his collision with Connor...but the ND coaches wanted him to 'shake it off' and keep practicing (after all, Connor shook off the broken hand & never missed a day)....Hanlon thought the coaches were nuts & quit the team-transferring to play for former ND QB Wally Fromhart at Loras College.

Hanlon led Loras to an undefeated season and was named Little All American before a career in the NFL & then the longtime coach at his HS Alma Mater- Chicago Leo

One fullback down....

----------------------------------------

#2 Midseason practice & ND is preparing for Iowa. ND Fullback Joe Yonto is playing the part of Iowa star fullback named Hoerner...

Yonto ran off-tackle and is hit by Connor...from the book 'Leahy's Lads'

"...when the players un-piled, Yonto was on the ground with the most badly broken leg any of us had ever seen. Yonto's foot was at a 90 degree angle from where it should have been."

Yonto never played again. Instead he became a student assistant football coach on his way to eventually becoming a legendary assistant at ND.

two Fullbacks down


#3

A practice before the upcoming game with Army....Gerry Ramsburger, a Bronze Star winning vet is playing Army's Doc Blanchard...reportedly, Ramsburger runs like Blanchard & even looks a little like him.

Ramsburger runs off tackle and takes a terrific shot by Connor....but to everyone's surprise, Ramsburger pops right up after the hit and head back to the huddle...but in the huddle, Ramsburger tells a teammate he doesn't feel right...the teammate takes one look at Ramsburger and calls for the trainer Hughie Burns.

Connor had broken Ramsburger's jaw.

From the book 'Leahy's Lads'

"Ramsburger did have his jaw wired, but was never able to play again. He was a good one and would have played a lot of football for Notre Dame...."

Three fullbacks down


All of the Irish played and practiced hard in 1946....the Irish defense only gave up 24 pts all season(the 1st string gave up 2 tds and the reserves gave up the other 2 tds)....

it was said that the Irish players 'caught hell' from the coaches after each of the 4 tds scored against them...interestingly- no opponent made an extra point against the irish the entire season!



Olson seems like the appropriate person to ask ...
by PattyMulligan  (2019-08-21 17:58:28)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

If you don't mind.

What relationship did ND's remarkable dominance right after WW II have to do with the fact that ND had served as an officer training school for the US Navy during WW II? I've heard suggestions that is was a factor in recruiting talent but it's always been a bit unclear. Thanks.


well,
by olson  (2019-08-21 23:00:13)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

I usually don't post on Rock's House anymore...I hang out on Cartier


Thanks!
by PattyMulligan  (2019-08-21 23:20:32)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Excellent information. I hope you write a book, I'll buy it.


John Lujack said Connor was terrifying in practice.
by BeijingIrish  (2019-08-21 17:05:35)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

And this from a guy who, pound for pound, might be the toughest guy to ever play for either the Irish (Leahy's opinion) or Da Bears (Halas' opinion).

Butkus is omitted from this conversation because he is in a category where he is the only player.

Then, of course, there is Ditka.


I’ve always loved Coach Leahy’s promise to George Connor
by RocketShark  (2019-08-21 14:50:12)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

if he came to play at Notre Dame. First, that Connor would be an All-American and second, that he’d also be a national champion.

Both predictions came true. Twice.


Thanks for sharing
by weirdo0521  (2019-08-21 14:01:48)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Nice to see his HS Coach Joe "Red" Gleason , ND Class of 1938 get a mention. He's my grandpa.


Fantastic person
by montroy28  (2019-08-21 13:15:14)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

George Connor was a great man. He could tell some great stories, and that's not something that was unique within his own family. Jack, his younger brother was a hell of a storyteller and also played football and basketball at Notre Dame. He authored Leahy's Lads.

One of the things I'm glad to see in the write-up was about how there was a desire to play for the Cardinals. His family were not exactly Bears fans before he played there. In fact even afterwards some of the family that married in claim to have gone on to be Packers fans once the Cardinals left town.

When George was first starting out with the Bears, he was living with his parents. His mother Esther was charged with helping raise George's much younger cousins due to their busy parents' long hours. Those cousins would often complain that their big cousin was stealing their bacon. He indeed was, he had NFL types to fight off. Esther would eventually pitch in as a babysitter for those younger cousins' kids in the 70's.

As an aside there were a lot of medical types in the family. For instance, George's uncle was Dr. John L. Keeley, a surgeon out of Loyola in Chicago. One time, Dr. Keeley was flown to Rome for an emergency amputation of Cardinal Stritch's arm. As family lore has it he was also tasked with chaperoning the arm back to the US on ice.

Dr. Keeley was my grandfather, and my dad was one of the unlucky bacon-deprived cousins.