Robert Bruce St. Clair (February 18, 1931 – April 20, 2015) was a professional

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. Because of his eccentricities, his teammates nicknamed him "The Geek".Graham Kislingbury
"Bob St. Clair: The King of Kezar"
''

Corvallis Gazette-Times The ''Corvallis Gazette-Times'' is a daily newspaper for Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon, United States. The newspaper, along with its sister publication, the ''Albany Democrat-Herald'' of neighboring Albany, Oregon, is owned by Lee Enterprises ...

'', February 6, 2010. St. Clair may be the only player in NFL history to have spent nearly all of his entire playing career in the same city, playing in the same stadium at all levels. St. Clair attended San Francisco's Polytechnic High School (located across the street from the stadium) and the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

, and was part of USF's undefeated 1951 team. After USF dropped football, St. Clair finished his college career at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

. He was then drafted by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in 1953 and played his entire professional career in San Francisco until his retirement prior to the 1964 season. Per NFL Hall of Fame archives, St. Clair is credited with blocking 10 field goals in 1956. In 2001, as a tribute for playing a total of 17 seasons and 189 home games at Kezar Stadium, the city of San Francisco renamed the stadium's field in honor of St. Clair. He was elected to the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

in 1990. While still an active player, St. Clair was elected to

Daly City Daly City () is the second most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, with population of 104,901 according to the 2020 census. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and immediately south of San Francisco (sharing its ...

's city council in 1958, which included a term as mayor from 1961 to 1962; one of his mayoral and council colleagues was his high school coach

Joe Verducci Joseph Jerold Verducci (November 11, 1910 – November 6, 1964) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Saint Mary's College of California from 1948 to 1949 and at San Fr ...

. He was the county supervisor for

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City is the county seat, and the third most populated city following Daly ...

from 1966 to 1974. For many years he owned a liquor store at 24th and Sanchez in

Noe Valley Noe Valley ( ; originally spelt Noé) is a neighborhood in the central part of San Francisco, California. It is named for Don José de Jesús Noé, noted 19th-century Californio statesman and ranchero, who owned much of the area and served as m ...

, which still bears his name. The store is at 3900 24th Street. During St. Clair's tenure as mayor, the Philadelphia Warriors of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

moved to the Cow Palace in Daly City and became the San Francisco Warriors. The team moved to the

Oakland Coliseum Arena Oakland Arena is an indoor arena located in Oakland, California, United States. From its opening in 1966 until 1996, it was known as the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. After a major renovation completed in 1997, the arena was renamed ...

in 1971 and took its current name, the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

. The Warriors won games 2 and 3 of the 1975 NBA World Championship Series at the Cow Palace en route to a four-game sweep of the Washington Bullets. St. Clair broke his hip in February 2015; complications led to his death in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

on April 20, 2015 at the age of 84.Steve Chawkins
"Bob St. Clair dies at 84, Hall of Fame offensive lineman for 49ers"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', September 21, 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:St. Clair, Bob 1931 births 2015 deaths Alcohol distribution retailers County supervisors in California Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees American football offensive tackles San Francisco 49ers players Western Conference Pro Bowl players San Francisco Dons football players Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players Mayors of places in California National Football League players with retired numbers American athlete-politicians People from Daly City, California Players of American football from San Francisco