William Henry Boedeker, Jr. (March 7, 1924 – March 21, 2014) was a halfback in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

and

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

who played for the

Chicago Rockets The Chicago Rockets were an American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949. During the 1949 season, the team was known as the Chicago Hornets. Unlike the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, an ...

, the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

and the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. A graduate of North Side High School in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

, Boedeker entered the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

after high school but was sent to train at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. At DePaul, he played basketball on successful teams with

George Mikan George Lawrence Mikan Jr. (; June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed "Mr. Basketball", was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of t ...

before serving in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. When Boedeker returned from the service, he signed in 1946 to play football for the Rockets. He was traded to Cleveland in 1947 and spent three seasons there. The Browns won the AAFC championship each of those years. Boedeker was then sent to the Packers and the Eagles in 1950. He retired after the season.

Early life and college

Born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, Boedeker grew up in

and attended the city's North Side High School. He enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

immediately after graduating from high school in 1942 and was sent to a military program at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. At DePaul he played on several successful basketball teams alongside

, including a freshman team that won 17 of 18 games in the 1942–1943 season. Boedeker was awarded a

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

during

Professional football career

Returning after three years of service, Boedeker planned to return to DePaul to play basketball, but was first given a tryout to play for the

in the

(AAFC) in 1946. He had not played football in college and had a piece of shrapnel in his leg from the war, but a DePaul coach recommended him to the Rockets nevertheless. Boedeker made the team, making him the first person from Fort Wayne to play professional football. He stayed in Chicago for one year before being traded to the AAFC's

for end John Harrington and tackle

Jim Daniell James Lachlan "Big Jim" Daniell (April 10, 1918December 13, 1983) was an American football offensive tackle and defensive tackle, a World War II veteran, and a steel company executive. He played two years in the National Football League (NFL) an ...

. Boedeker played as a halfback in Cleveland as part of a rushing attack that featured

Marion Motley Marion Motley (June 5, 1920 – June 27, 1999) was an American professional football player who was a halfback and linebacker for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). He was a le ...

and Edgar Jones. He was also a kick returner.

Paul Brown Paul Eugene Brown (September 7, 1908 – August 5, 1991) was an American football coach and executive in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Brown was both the co-founder and first coach of the Clevela ...

, the head coach of the Browns, called him "one of the most reckless runners who ever played for us and a terror when he ran back kicks". Cleveland finished the 1947 season with a 12–1–1 record with Boedeker in the backfield and beat the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in the AAFC championship game. The team finished the 1948 season with a perfect record, winning all of its games and another championship. A third championship followed in 1949, but the AAFC dissolved after the season and the Browns were absorbed into the more established

(NFL). Boedeker continued his college studies at

Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo College, also known as Kalamazoo, K College, KC or simply K, is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Founded in 1833 by Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute, Kalamazoo is the oldest private college in ...

between seasons with the Browns. Boedeker's reckless running style earned him praise but also caused frequent injury. Brown said in 1949 that it was not carelessness but a "special kind of talent". Boedeker moved in 1950 to the NFL's

and later in the season was sent to the

. He left football after the season.

Later life

Boedeker earned a Bachelor of Science degree from

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and a degree in engineering from DePaul. He settled in Fort Wayne after his football career. He worked in the 1950s as a sales director at Capehart-Farnsworth Corporation. In the 1960s, he was an executive at a television distribution firm in Fort Wayne. He died two weeks after his 90th birthday in March 2014.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boedeker, Bill 1924 births 2014 deaths DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball players DePaul Blue Demons football players Basketball players from Milwaukee Players of American football from Milwaukee American football halfbacks United States Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from Milwaukee Chicago Rockets players Cleveland Browns players Green Bay Packers players Philadelphia Eagles players American men's basketball players United States Army soldiers