Frank Theodore Gnup (April 5, 1917 – September 27, 1976) was an American

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, halfback and coach who played

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

from 1946 to 1952. A native of

Aliquippa, Pennsylvania Aliquippa is the largest city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, located on the Ohio River about northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 9,238 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part ...

who was a star player at Manhattan College, Gnup took the

Ontario Rugby Football Union The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league comprising teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded on Saturday, January 6, 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt th ...

by storm in 1946 as a player-coach, leading his

Hamilton Wildcats The Hamilton Wildcats were a Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario that played in the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) from 1941 to 1947, and in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) from 1948 to 1949. The team was formed ...

to the league championship game, was named an all-star, and won the Imperial Oil Trophy as ORFU most valuable player. He played in Hamilton for 3 more seasons, but had a falling out, and played the 1950 season with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

(6 regular season games.) He finished his playing days in 1952 with the

Brantford Redskins Brantford Redskins was a Canadian football team in the Ontario Rugby Football Union. The team played in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Their quarterback in 1952 was Al Dekdebrun, who had led the Toronto Argonauts to a Grey Cup win in 1950. Notable p ...

of the ORFU. After his playing days Gnup took up coaching in 1955 with the

UBC Thunderbirds The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thu ...

. His 18 years at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

are legendary, and in 1999 he was enshrined in the ''UBC Sports Hall of Fame''. He has since been honoured by having the AAA Provincial Championships and the CWUAA Frank Gnup Memorial Trophy as Player of the Year named after him. The ever cigar chomping Gnup died of a heart attack September 27, 1976, aged 59.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gnup, Frank 1917 births 1976 deaths Hamilton Wildcats football players Manhattan Jaspers football players Third Air Force Gremlins football players Toronto Argonauts players Ontario Rugby Football Union players People from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Beaver County, Pennsylvania Players of Canadian football from Pennsylvania American expatriates in Canada