Robert Moellering Fry (November 11, 1930 – November 10, 2019) was a former

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 wi ...

offensive lineman 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) for the Los Angeles Rams and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

. He played college football at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

and was drafted in the third round of the

1953 NFL Draft The 1953 National Football League Draft was held on January 22, 1953, at Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. Selections made by the folded Dallas Texans were assigned to the new Baltimore Colts. This was the seventh year that the first o ...

Early years

Fry attended

Elder High School , motto_translation = Strive for the higher things , streetaddress = 3900 Vincent Avenue , region = Price Hill , city = Cincinnati , county = , state ...

before moving on to the

, where he was coached by

Paul "Bear" Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of t ...

. He was a part of the freshman

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team that included

Cliff Hagan Clifford Oldham Hagan (born December 9, 1931) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6-4 forward who excelled with the hook shot, Hagan, nicknamed "Li'l Abner", played his entire 10-year NBA career (1956–1966) with the St. ...

and Frank Ramsey. In 1950, he was named the starting offensive end as a sophomore and contributed to Kentucky's best season under Bryant, finishing with an 11–1 record and a 13–7 upset in the Sugar Bowl over the eventual

national champions National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but als ...

the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

, also ending the Sooners' 31-game winning streak. As a senior, he was moved to the offensive tackle position and earned his second straight third-team All-SEC honors.

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

Fry was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the third round (36th overall) of the

. He became a starter at

left tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, o ...

as a rookie, before spending the next two years out of football while serving his military service. He returned in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

and maintained his starting role for four straight seasons, even though at the time he was one of the lightest

offensive linemen In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

in the NFL.

Dallas Cowboys

Fry was selected by the

after being left unprotected in the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft, becoming the first starting

in franchise history. He was a starter on the left side of the line during the Cowboys first three seasons, until he lost his spot to

Tony Liscio Anthony Liscio (July 2, 1940 – June 18, 2017) was an American football offensive tackle in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of Tulsa. Early years Liscio attended Westinghouse ...

in the middle of the 1963 season and was moved to the

right tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, ...

position in place of Ed Nutting. In

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

, he started five games at

, after being passed on the depth chart by Ray Schoenke. On July 19, 1965, he was traded to 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 (A ...

in exchange for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

Cleveland Browns

Fry retired after being released by the

on August 29, 1965.

Coaching career

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, after being the Atlanta Falcons' chief talent scout, he was named the assistant

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

coach and eventually was promoted to offensive line coach. In

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, he joined the Pittsburgh Steelers as the offensive line coach. In 1974, Fry began a nine-year stint as the New York Jets offensive line coach. He resigned in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

after the unexpected firing of

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Walt Michaels Walter Edward Michaels (originally Majka) (October 16, 1929 – July 10, 2019) was a professional American football player and coach who was best remembered for his six-year tenure as head coach of the NFL's New York Jets from 1977 to 1982. In 1 ...

, becoming the offensive line coach and offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Bob 1930 births 2019 deaths Players of American football from Cincinnati American football offensive tackles Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Kentucky Wildcats football players Los Angeles Rams players Dallas Cowboys players Atlanta Falcons coaches New York Jets coaches Pittsburgh Steelers coaches American men's basketball players Elder High School alumni