Frank Sondles Pattee (March 11, 1924 – January 5, 2011) 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 ...

halfback. He was born in

Smith Center, Kansas Smith Center is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,571. History Smith Center was founded in 1871. The first post office in Smith Center was established ...

, the son of Addie (née Munson) and John Walter Pattee. He was a star football player at

Smith Center High School Smith Center High School is a public high school located in Smith Center, Kansas, United States. It is the sole high school operated by Smith Center USD 237 school district, and serves students of grades 7 to 12. The school colors are red and ...

, and played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

Playing career

Pattee enrolled at Kansas in 1943, before joining the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

where he served stateside in the U.S. Naval Air Force. Frank later returned to Kansas where he played football from 1945 through 1948, lettering all four years. He was the starting fullback on Kansas' 1948 Orange Bowl team as well as one of the starting

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 ...

s. Frank was instrumental as one of the most versatile players on the team which led to him also filling in at several other positions while at Kansas and during the 1948 Orange Bowl game. This versatility lead to him being named the team captain of the 1948 Kansas football team as well. After graduating in 1949, he was drafted in the sixth round of the 1949 AAFC as the 41st overall pick by the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

, and in the 23rd round of 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 ...

as the 228th overall pick by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, but chose not to pursue a career in professional football.

Later life and legacy

Pattee married Betty Jo O'Neal on June 16, 1946 at the Danforth Chapel on the campus of Kansas. Passing on a career in professional football, he initially pursued a career in business with the

Cities Services Oil Company Citgo Petroleum Corporation (or Citgo, stylized as CITGO) is a United States–based refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. Headquartered in the Energy Corridor area o ...

, then later a career with the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

. Frank and Betty Jo had two sons and two daughters, Frank Pattee Jr., Thomas Pattee, Jodie Knight, and

Erin Brockovich Erin Brockovich (née Pattee; born June 22, 1960) is an American legal clerk, consumer advocate, and environmental activist who, despite her lack of education in the law, was instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Compan ...

. His daughter Erin Brockovich went on to fame as a law clerk who became internationally notable as the subject of an eponymous movie starring

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and thr ...

(for which Roberts won the Best Actress Academy Award). Pattee died on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 in Westlake Village, California. He was buried later that year in Pioneer Cemetery in Lawrence, Kansas alongside his wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pattee, Frank 1924 births 2011 deaths American football fullbacks Kansas Jayhawks football players People from Smith Center, Kansas Players of American football from Kansas United States Navy personnel of World War II