Clarence Fred Gehrke ( ; April 24, 1918 – February 9, 2002) 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 ...
player and executive. He played 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
Cleveland / Los Angeles Rams,
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 ...
and
Chicago Cardinals
The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons.
Roots ca ...
from 1940 through 1950. To boost team morale, Gehrke designed and painted the
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
logo in 1948, which was the first painted on the helmets of an NFL team. He later served as the
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
of the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
from 1977 through 1981. He is the great-grandfather of
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
left fielder and 2018
NL MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' ...
Christian Yelich
Christian Stephen Yelich (born December 5, 1991) is an American professional baseball left fielder for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Miami Marlins.
The Marlins selected Yelich in the first r ...
.
Biography
Early life and college
Gehrke was born and raised in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
to a family of German descent. As a youth, he sneaked into
Utah Utes football
The Utah Utes football program is a Power 5 Conference college football team that competes in the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I and represents the University of Utah. The Utah college football ...
games. He there developed a love for the sport. He attended
South High School where he participated in
swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
,
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
, and football. He graduated from high school in 1935 and then attended the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
, where he majored in art. At Utah, he started at running back on offense and left
cornerback
A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...
on defense. He also returned
punts and
kickoff
Kickoff or kick-off may refer to
* Kick-off (association football)
* Kickoff (gridiron football)
* ''Kick Off'' (series), a series of computer association football games
* ''Kick Off'' (album), a 1985 album by Onyanko Club
* ''Kick Off'' (magaz ...
s.
Cleveland Rams and World War II
Gehrke entered 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 ...
as (NFL) an undrafted rookie. He landed a try-out with the
Cleveland Rams
The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to 194 ...
in 1940. He was awarded a spot on team after he returned a kickoff for a
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
in a pre-season exhibition game. His first contract with Cleveland paid him $135 per game. However, he did not play in many games that season because
Parker Hall, the
NFL's MVP in 1939, was the Rams' starting running back and his success kept Gehrke on the bench.
When the United States entered
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in 1941, Gehrke reported for military service. However, he was denied entry in the armed forces when military examiners noticed an operation scar across Gehrke's knee; he was immediately designated with a
4F status. Gehrke appealed the decision but was still denied entry in the armed forces. However, Gehrke contributed to the war effort by landing a job with
Northrop Aircraft
Northrop Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer from its formation in 1939 until its 1994 merger with Grumman to form Northrop Grumman. The company is known for its development of the flying wing design, most successfully the B-2 Spiri ...
, which was based in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, as a technical illustrator, and began helping with the design of airplanes. He was on the team that drafted and designed the
P-61 Black Widow
The Northrop P-61 Black Widow is a twin-engine United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first operational U.S. warplane designed as a night fighter, and the first aircraft designed specifically as a night fight ...
warplane.
In 1942, Gehrke joined the Hollywood Bears of the
Pacific Coast Professional Football League
The Pacific Coast Professional Football League (PCPFL), also known as the Pacific Coast Football League (PCFL) and Pacific Coast League (PCL) was a professional American football Minor league football (gridiron), minor league based in California. ...
, which at this time had a talent level considered to be on par with NFL, since many NFL players were in the military stationed on the West Coast and others were working in war industries there. The players worked their jobs during the day and then worked out and played their games at night. Gehrke played for the
Los Angeles Bulldogs
The Los Angeles Bulldogs were a professional American football team that competed from 1936 to 1948 (the last year as the Long Beach Bulldogs). Formed with the intention of joining the National Football League in 1937 (and turned down in favor of ...
in 1943 and the
Los Angeles Wildcats Los Angeles Wildcats is a name shared by several American football teams from Los Angeles:
*Los Angeles Wildcats (AFL)
The Los Angeles Wildcats (also reported in various media as Pacific Coast Wildcats, Los Angeles Wilson Wildcats and Wilson's ...
in 1944.
Return to the NFL
Once the war ended in 1945, Gehrke returned to the Cleveland Rams. That season, the Rams won the
1945 NFL Championship Game
The 1945 NFL Championship Game was the 13th National Football League (NFL) championship game. Held on December 16, the Cleveland Rams defeated the Washington Redskins 15–14 at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
This was the last game befo ...
by defeating 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 ...
15–14. Gehrke led the NFL that year in both average rushing yards, with 6.3 yards per rush, and an average punt return of 15.0 yards. He was then named to ''Pro Football Illustrated 's'' All-Pro team. In 1946 the Rams relocated to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. That season, Gehrke was named to ''Pro Football Illustrated 's'' All-NFL second-team. He also repeated as the NFL's average rushing leader with 5.2 yards per carry. He also continued working at Northrup, since many players at the time took up jobs outside of football during the off-season. He would then take three months off to play professional football.
First helmet logo
In the mid-1940s, Gehrke toyed with the notion of painting a football helmet. Rams coach
Bob Snyder suggested Gehrke paint a helmet with the ram horns on it that he could present to the team's owner
Dan Reeves
Daniel Edward Reeves (January 19, 1944 – January 1, 2022) was an American football running back and coach in the National Football League (NFL). During his 38 years in the NFL, Reeves participated in nine Super Bowls, the third most for an ...
. Gehrke painted two ram horns on an old college helmet and presented the design to Reeves, who was intrigued. Reeves then contacted the NFL for a ruling on legality of having a football helmet painted. It was reported that the answer Reeves received from the NFL was "You're the owner; do what you want!" Reeves then tasked Gehrke to paint 75 helmets at $1.00 per helmet. The project took Gehrke the entire summer of 1948.
The newly painted helmets debuted during a pre-season match-up between the Rams and Redskins at the
Los Angeles Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...
before a crowd of 105,000. Upon seeing the new helmets the crowd began cheering, which was followed by a five-minute standing ovation. To this day, Gehrke's rams horn logo is still worn by the team. By 1949, the
Riddell sporting goods company had created a plastic helmet, baking in Gehrke's design. Some observers of the
1950 NFL Championship Game
The 1950 NFL Championship Game was the 18th National Football League (NFL) title game, played on Sunday, December 24 at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
In their first NFL season after four years in the rival All-America Football Confere ...
said that the only way to tell the Rams and 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 ( ...
apart in the initial low resolution coast-to-coast telecast was the distinctive horns on the Rams' helmets. Throughout the 1950s many professional and college teams began painting logos to their helmets.
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 ...
displays one of the original helmets, painted by Gehrke, along with the story behind it each year during
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
Week. The logo innovation also earned Gehrke the Pro Football Hall of Fame's first Daniel F. Reeves Pioneer Award in 1972.
First facemask
Gehrke is also credited with developing the first helmet with a full facemask. He developed the face mask after having his nose broken three times during the 1946 season. He played the entire 1947 season with the facemask, which was made by Gehrke first applying a clay mold to his face. Once the mask dried, he had a few of the machinists who were running the power stamping machines at Northrop cover it with a sheet of aluminum. The manufactured piece of aluminum covered the nose, forehead and rested on the cheekbones to bear the brunt of blows. Gehrke then took the mask to his grandfather, who covered it in leather. In order for Gehrke to get the helmet on, it was cut up the back and laces were weaved into it.
While the mask protected Gehrke's face, it also obscured his vision on pass plays to the sides. He could only see the ball with one eye. However, on punt returns his vision was unobstructed. He returned to using the traditional helmet the next season.
Retirement and broadcasting
Gehrke spent three more seasons with Rams. From 1945 to 1948, he beat out
Tom Harmon
Thomas Dudley Harmon (September 28, 1919 – March 15, 1990), known as Tom Harmon, as well as by the nickname "Old 98", was an American football player, military pilot, actor, and sports broadcaster.
Harmon grew up in Gary, Indiana, and playe ...
and
Les Horvath
Leslie Horvath (October 12, 1921 – November 14, 1995) was an American football quarterback and halfback who won the Heisman Trophy while playing for Ohio State University in 1944. Horvath was the first Ohio State player to win the Heisman, an ...
for the starting job at running back. Both men were
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 ...
winners. In 1950, he was traded to the
Chicago Cardinals
The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons.
Roots ca ...
. In mid-season Chicago traded him to
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 ...
. He scored his last touchdown with San Francisco. By this time, Gehrke was tired of the constant moving and traveling that came with being an NFL player. He retired as a player at the age of 31. Upon his retirement from professional football, Gehrke returned to Northrup and moved into an administrative post as head of the department. However, he was still involved in football. On weekends he would assist his former roommate, Harmon, who was announcing San Francisco 49ers and college football games. He held the job with Harmon for the next 13 seasons.
Denver Broncos and the USFL
In 1964, Gehrke was approached by
Mac Speedie
Mac Curtis Speedie (January 12, 1920 – March 5, 1993) was an American football end who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL) for seven years before joining the Saskatc ...
, a former Utah Utes football player who was then the coach of the
American Football League
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
's
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
, to become a pro scout for Denver. Gehrke repeatedly turned down the offer. He finally accepted the position. He then rose from personnel director to general manager to vice-president of the team.
In 1981 the team was sold to
Edgar Kaiser, a Canadian businessman who brought in his own personnel. Gehrke and coach
Red Miller
Robert "Red" Miller (October 31, 1927 – September 27, 2017) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1977 to 1980. In his first year as Denver's head coach, h ...
were asked to resign. However, Gehrke and Red Miller were hired by
Denver Gold
The Denver Gold was a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second major professional American football, football league in the United States, playing a springtime season, from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played the ...
of the
United States Football League
The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...
. But after three years the league folded, and Gehrke's life in football finally came to an end.
Gehrke died at his home in Palm Springs, California, on February 9, 2002. He was buried in the
Salt Lake City Cemetery
The Salt Lake City Cemetery is a cemetery in northeastern Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, that is one of the largest city-operated cemeteries in the United States.
Description
The cemetery is located above 4th Avenue and east of N Street in ...
.
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gehrke, Fred
1918 births
2002 deaths
American people of German descent
American football defensive backs
American football halfbacks
Chicago Cardinals players
Cleveland Rams players
Denver Broncos executives
Los Angeles Bulldogs players
Los Angeles Rams players
San Francisco 49ers players
Utah Utes football players
National Football League general managers
Sportspeople from Salt Lake City
Sportspeople from Palm Springs, California
Players of American football from Salt Lake City