Robert R. “Bob” Fleck (January 12, 1932 – September 27, 2017) was a two time All-American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

tackle at

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. He was the drafted by 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 ...

in the

1954 NFL Draft The 1954 National Football League Draft was held on January 28, 1954, at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. This was the eighth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery. With the previous seven winners i ...

but never played professional football. Fleck grew up in

Coatesville, Pennsylvania Coatesville is a city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,350 at the 2020 census. Coatesville is approximately 39 miles west of Philadelphia. It developed along the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike beginning ...

, graduating from S. Horace Scott High School in 1949, where he was a two sport athlete. He then attended Manlius Prep before going to Syracuse. He was selected as an All-American football player in 1952 and 1953. In 1954, Fleck was drafted 15th overall by the Packers in the 2nd Round of the NFL draft and signed with them that spring but then tried to go play for the

Ottawa Roughriders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. After Green Bay used a court injunction to keep him in the NFL, he was drafted into the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. So the Packers traded him, along with quarterback

Babe Parilli Vito "Babe" Parilli (May 7, 1930 – July 15, 2017) was an American football quarterback and coach who played professionally for 18 seasons. Parilli spent five seasons in the National Football League (NFL), three in the Canadian Football League ( ...

– also bound for the service – to Cleveland for quarterback Bob Garrett, halfback Don Miller, guard John Bauer and tackle Chet Gierula. Fleck served in the Army from 1954 to 1962, then tried out in Canada, but never played pro football. He worked at Lukens Steel Company until his retirement in 1992. In 2000, Fleck was named to Syracuse's All-Century Team.

References

1932 births 2017 deaths Syracuse Orange football players All-American college football players Ottawa Rough Riders players {{offensive-lineman-1930s-stub