Charles Philip Bednarik (May 1, 1925 – March 21, 2015), nicknamed "Concrete Charlie", was an American professional
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 ...
player in the
National Football League (NFL). He has been ranked one of the hardest hitting tacklers in NFL history and was one of the league's last
two-way players. His November 20, 1960 tackle of
Frank Gifford in an Eagles game against the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
at
Yankee Stadium, known simply as
The Hit, is widely considered one of the hardest tackles and most notable plays in NFL history.
A
Slovak American from the
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the
Lehigh Valley region of eastern
Pennsylvania, Bednarik played for the
Philadelphia Eagles for his entire 13-year NFL career from 1949 through 1962. In 1967, in his first year of eligibility, he was inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Early life
Bednarik was born in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on May 1, 1925. His parents emigrated from
Široké, a village in eastern
Slovakia, five years earlier, settling in Bethlehem and working for
Bethlehem Steel. He attended school at SS. Cyril & Methodius in Bethlehem, which was a Slovak parochial school taught in
Slovak.
High school
Bednarik attended
Liberty High School in Bethlehem, where he played football.
Military service
Following graduation from Liberty High School, Bednarik entered the
United States Army Air Forces and served as a
B-24 waist gunner with the
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...
. He flew on 30 combat missions over
Germany and was awarded the
Air Medal, four
Oak Leaf Clusters, the
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and four
Battle Stars.
College
Bednarik subsequently attended the
University of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia, where he was a 60-minute man, excelling as both center and linebacker, and sometimes as a punter. He was a three-time
All-American and was voted entry into the
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...
along with two of his teammates on the 1947 Penn team,
George Savitsky
George Michael Savitsky (July 30, 1924 – September 4, 2012) was an American football offensive tackle in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Born in New York City, Savitsky grew up in Camden, New Jersey and played foo ...
and tailback
Tony Minisi
Anthony Salvatore "Skip" Minisi (September 18, 1926 – May 5, 2005) was an American football halfback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1985 based on his coll ...
, and his coach,
George Munger. At Penn, Bednarik was third in
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
voting in 1948 and won the
Maxwell Award that year. In 1969, he was voted by a panel of sportswriters, coaches and hall of fame players as "The Greatest Center of All-Time."
NFL career
Bednarik was the first player selected in the
1949 NFL Draft
The 1949 National Football League Draft was held on December 21, 1948, at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. The draft was preceded by a secret draft meeting held November 15, 1948, at the Hotel Schenley in Pittsburgh.
This was the ...
by the
Philadelphia Eagles, where he went on to start on both offense (as a center) and defense (as a
linebacker) for the Eagles. He was a member of the Eagles' NFL Championship teams in
1949
Events
January
* January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022.
* January 2 – Luis ...
and
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
. In the final play of the
1960 NFL Championship Game
The 1960 NFL Championship Game was the 28th NFL title game. The game was played on Monday, December 26, at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvan ...
, Bednarik, the last Eagle between Green Bay's
Jim Taylor and the end zone, tackled Taylor at the Eagles' eight-yard line, and remained atop Taylor as the final seconds ticked off the clock, ensuring the Packers could not run another play and preserving a 17–13 Eagles victory. The controversy surrounding this play led to the NFL putting in a rule penalizing defensive players for not allowing an offensive player to get up off the field.
Gifford hit
On November 20, 1960, Bednarik knocked
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
running back
Frank Gifford out of football for over 18 months with one of the most famous tackles in NFL history, sometimes referred to simply as
The Hit. Bednarik's clothes line tackle of Gifford dropped Gifford immediately to the ground, and he immediately went unconscious. Gifford was transported from the field on a stretcher and then to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with a deep
concussion
A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...
.
Bednarik was criticized after the game by Giants players and fans for apparently celebrating Gifford's injury and a picture from ''
Sports Illustrated'' became iconic, showing Bednarik in mid-celebration, right above Gifford as he laid on the field, unconscious. Bednarik defended himself by saying that he was celebrating the fumble caused by the hit, which the Eagles recovered and was going to clinch the game for them, and the right to play for the NFL Championship. Years later, Gifford called the hit "a clean shot", and said, "Chuck hit me exactly the way I would have hit him."
Quarrel with Noll
Bednarik had a famous quarrel with
Chuck Noll, who once, as a player for the
Cleveland Browns, smashed him in the face during a fourth-down punting play. A few years later, Bednarik punched Noll in an on-field confrontation after a game, in retaliation. NFL commissioner
Bert Bell fined Bednarik $500 and ordered him to apologize to Noll for the punch. According to Bednarik, when he gave the apology, Noll simply responded, "Bullshit."
Accomplishments and legacy
Bednarik proved extremely durable, missing just three games in his 14 seasons. He was named All-Pro eight times and was the last of the NFL's "Sixty-Minute Men," players who played both offense and defense on a regular basis.
Bednarik's nickname, "Concrete Charlie," originated from his off-season career as a concrete salesman for the Warner Company, not (contrary to popular belief) from his reputation as a ferocious tackler. Nonetheless, sportswriter Hugh Brown of ''The Evening Bulletin'' in
Philadelphia, credited with bestowing the nickname, remarked that Bednarik "is as hard as the concrete he sells."
Bednarik served as an analyst on the HBO program ''
Inside The NFL'' for its inaugural season in 1977–78.
In 1999, he was ranked number 54 on ''
The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. This made him the highest-ranking player to have spent his entire career with the Eagles, the highest-ranking offensive center and the eighth-ranked linebacker in all of professional football.
In 2010, Bednarik was ranked number 35 on the NFL Network's "The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players". Ranked one spot ahead of Bednarik at #34 was
Deion Sanders
Deion Luwynn Sanders Sr. (born August 9, 1967) is an American football coach and former player who is the head coach at the University of Colorado Boulder. Nicknamed "Prime Time", he played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons ...
, a player for whom Bednarik has held open contempt in regards to being a two-way player. Bednarik was not the highest placed Eagle on the NFL Network's list. That distinction was held by Reggie White at number 7.
Opinions on current NFL players
Bednarik was an outspoken, even bitter critic of modern NFL players for playing on only one side of the ball, calling them "pussyfoots", noting that they "suck air after five plays" and that they "couldn't tackle my wife Emma". He even criticized
Troy Brown of the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
and
Deion Sanders
Deion Luwynn Sanders Sr. (born August 9, 1967) is an American football coach and former player who is the head coach at the University of Colorado Boulder. Nicknamed "Prime Time", he played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons ...
of the
Dallas Cowboys, two players who also have played both offense and defense. Bednarik noted that Brown and Sanders saw time at both
wide receiver and
cornerback, positions that did not require as much contact as he endured while playing both center and linebacker.
Relationship with the Eagles
Bednarik's former Eagles number, 60, has been retired by the Eagles in honor of his achievements with the team and is one of only eight numbers retired in the history of the franchise.
When the Eagles established their Honor Roll in 1987, Bednarik was one of the first class of inductees. He attended reunions for the 25th anniversary of the 1960 NFL Championship team in 1985 and the 40th anniversary of the 1948–49 NFL Championship team in 1988 (though he had not played for the 1948 team), held in pregame ceremonies at
Veterans Stadium.
Bednarik quarreled with current Eagles owner
Jeffrey Lurie in 1996. Lurie refused to buy 100 copies of Bednarik's new book for $15 each for the entire team, as that was against NFL rules, and that grudge carried over into the Eagles' Super Bowl appearance in 2005, when he openly rooted against his former team. He was a consistent critic of several league issues, including his pension, today's salaries, and one-way players.
During Eagles training camp in the summer of 2006, Bednarik and the Eagles reconciled, seemingly ending the feud between Bednarik and Lurie. At the same time, however, Bednarik made disparaging remarks regarding Reggie White, leading to a somewhat lukewarm reception of the reconciliation by Eagles' fans. In the edition of August 4 of
Allentown's ''Morning Call'' newspaper, however, it was reported that Bednarik apologized, stating he had been confused, and meant to make the statement about former Eagles wide receiver
Terrell Owens.
Health and death
2011 hospitalization
On March 26, 2011, Bednarik was reportedly taken to
St. Luke's Hospital in
Bethlehem. Hospital spokesmen stated that he was "in serious condition", but provided no further details. The next day, however, it was announced that he was doing fine and had no pre-existing medical conditions. His son-in-law stated that he had passed out from shortness of breath and low blood pressure but did not suffer a heart attack or anything related and was expected to make a full recovery.
In the final years of his life, Bednarik resided in
Coopersburg, Pennsylvania in the
Lehigh Valley with his wife Emma.
Death
Bednarik died at 4:23 a.m. on March 21, 2015 in
Coopersburg, Pennsylvania after having fallen ill the previous day. He was 89. Although the
Philadelphia Eagles released a statement saying he died after a "brief illness", Bednarik's eldest daughter, Charlene Thomas, disputed that claim, saying he had
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
and had been suffering from dementia for years and that football-related injuries played a role in his decline.
See also
*
Chuck Bednarik Award, awarded annually in Bednarik's honor to the best defensive player in college football
*
The Hit (Chuck Bednarik)
References
External links
*
*
*
Video of "The Hit"on
NFL Films' on
YouTube page
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bednarik, Chuck
1925 births
2015 deaths
American football centers
American football linebackers
Penn Quakers football players
Philadelphia Eagles players
All-American college football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players
Maxwell Award winners
National Football League first-overall draft picks
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease
Neurological disease deaths in Pennsylvania
United States Army Air Forces soldiers
Liberty High School (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) alumni
Sportspeople from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Players of American football from Pennsylvania
American people of Slovak descent
National Football League players with retired numbers
Recipients of the Air Medal