Robert Dominic "Bob" Forte (July 15, 1922March 12, 1996) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player for 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

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 ...

(NFL). Forte was a

two-way player In sports that require a player to play on offense and defense (such as basketball and ice hockey), a two-way player refers to a player who excels at both. In sports where a player typically specializes on offense or defense (like American footb ...

for the Packers during the end of the

one-platoon system The one-platoon system, also known as iron man football, is a platoon system in American football where players play on both offense and defense. It was the result of smaller roster sizes in the early days of the game and rules that limited player ...

, playing halfback on offense and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

on defense. Following his retirement from football, Forte worked as a radio analyst for the Packers, a television sports director, and as a member of the sports department of the

Miller Brewing Company The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the M ...

of Milwaukee.

Early life and college

Bob Forte was born July 15, 1922, in

Lake Village, Arkansas Lake Village is a city in and the county seat of Chicot County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 2,575 at the 2010 census. It is located in the Arkansas Delta. Lake Village is named for its location on Lake Chicot, an oxbow lake for ...

, a small town in the southeastern part of the state.Jim Seidcheck, "Continuing a Great Name in Sports," ''Sports Review Football,'' vol. 18, no. 5 (Sept. 1958), pp. 96–97. He began playing sandlot football with neighborhood children, gaining skill as a powerful runner. Forte attended the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

for whom he played in the 1940, 1941, and 1942 seasons, playing halfback on offense and

on defense. He was twice named an All-Conference player and was named to several All-American team lists.

Career

Military service

Forte was drafted by the

of the

in the 11th round (98th pick) of the

1943 NFL draft The 1943 National Football League Draft was held on April 8, 1943, at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Detroit Lions selected running back Frank Sinkwich. This draft is the first NFL draf ...

. However, with

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 ...

raging, instead of joining the team, Forte entered 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 ...

, in which he served for three years as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

of a tank battalion in the 8th Armored Division in the European theater. After this stint under General

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

in the Third Army, Forte was discharged in May 1946 and returned to life as a civilian.

Professional football

After his return from Europe, Forte began a seven-season career playing for the Packers, interrupted by the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, during which he was recalled to active duty for 15 months. Forte became one of only 14 NFL players to serve in both World War II and the Korean War. After missing the 1951 NFL campaign due to military service, Forte returned to the Packers, by whom he was elected as team captain in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

and

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

. In 1973, Forte was enshrined in the

Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...

in recognition of his accomplishments on and off the field.

Post-football

Forte began working in the off-season for the

Milwaukee 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. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

in 1952, serving as a special representative of the company's sports department, making appearances on behalf of the brewery to talk football before athletic and civic groups. He also worked as an analyst for the Packers on the teams radio broadcasts and was hired to be the sports director WISN and WISN-TV in 1956. In 1957 he returned to Miller Brewing's elaborate sports department on a full-time basis. He narrated eight new films for the company made in 1958 — four of which dealt with football exclusively, including a 30-minute short on the

1957 NFL Championship Game The 1957 NFL Championship Game was the 25th annual championship game, held on December 29 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, Michigan. The Detroit Lions (8–4), winners of the Western Conference, hosted the Cleveland Browns (9–2–1), champion ...

between the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

and 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 ( ...

Personal life

Bob Forte died in 1996 at the age of 73.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forte, Bob 1922 births 1996 deaths People from Lake Village, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas American football halfbacks American football defensive backs American football linebackers Arkansas Razorbacks football players Green Bay Packers players Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame