George Alfred Grosvenor (August 4, 1910 – September 20, 2001) 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. He 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 ...

for the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

Buffaloes and professional football for the St. Louis/Kansas City Blues in 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. ...

and the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

(1935–1936) 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 ...

(1936–1937) 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).

Early years

Grosvenor was born in

Jefferson, Oklahoma Jefferson is a town in Grant County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 12 at the 2010 census, a 67.6 percent decline from the figure of 37 in 2000. History Under its former name of Pond Creek, Jefferson was one of the participating to ...

, in 1910. His father, George H. Grosvenor, was an English immigrant, and his mother, Okaka "Okie" Grosvenor, was an Indiana native. As of 1920, the family lived on a farm in

Rock Island, Oklahoma Rock Island is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 646 at the 2010 census, a decline of 8.9 percent from the figure of 709 recorded ...

. Grosvenor had two olders siblings, Teddy (born c. 1906) and Ruby (born c. 1909). At some point after 1920, the family moved to Colorado. Grosvenor attended

Boulder High School Boulder High School is a high school in Boulder, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Boulder Valley School District. Boulder High School was founded in 1875 as a preparatory school to the University of Colorado. In 1876, it was the first ...

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

Football player

University of Colorado

Grosvenor attended the

where he played for the school's basketball and football teams. As a sophomore, he was the starting quarterback for the 1931 Colorado football team. On Thanksgiving Day in 1931, he returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown against

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. Over the next two seasons, he became known as a

triple-threat man In gridiron football, a triple-threat man is a player who excels at all three of the skills of running, passing, and kicking. In modern usage, such a player would be referred to as a utility player. Triple-threat men were the norm in the early day ...

for the Colorado football team. As a senior in 1933, he was selected as the first-team quarterback on the All-Rocky Mountain Conference team.

St. Louis/Kansas City Blues

In 1934, Grosvenor played professional football as the starting quarterback for the St. Louis/Kansas City Blues of the

(AFL). He led the team to the 1934 AFL championship with a 7-0-1 record and was selected by both the league's coaches and the

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as the first-team quarterback on the All-AFL team. The AFL folded after the 1934 season.

Chicago Bears/Cardinals

In September 1935, Grosvenor joined the

of the

(NFL). Grosvenor was moved to the halfback position with the Bears. During the 1935 NFL season, Grosvenor appeared in 11 games for the Bears, three as a starter, and totaled 234 rushing yards on 55 carries (4.3 yards per carry). He also completed 6 of 15 passes for 69 yards. The 1935 season was Grosvenor's first as a backup player; he expressed dissatisfaction with his status and initially declined to report for the 1936 season. Grosvenor ultimately reported to the Bears for the 1936 season, though he was sold to the

after the first game of the season. The Cardinals moved him from the halfback to the tailback position. On November 29, 1936, Grosvenor scored both touchdowns, including a 66-yard run, in the Cardinals' 14-7 victory over the Bears. During the 1936 season, Grosvenor rushed for 612 yards on 170 carries (3.6 yards per carry). His rushing yardage ranked fifth best in the NFL for the 1936 season. At the end of the 1936, he was selected by the

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

as a second-team player on the

1936 All-Pro Team The 1936 All-Pro Team consisted of American football players chosen by various selectors for the All-Pro team of the National Football League (NFL) for the 1936 NFL season. Teams were selected by, among others, the NFL coaches (NFL), the United Pre ...

. Grosvenor returned to the Cardinals in 1937. He again ranked fifth in the NFL in rushing yardage, totaling 461 yards on 143 carries.

Family and later years

Grosvenor was married in April 1932 to Wilma A "Billie" Hibler (1912-2007) in Gilpin County, Colorado. They had two sons, George D. Grosvenor (born c. 1933) and Paul R. Grosvenor (born c. 1938). In January 1938, Grosvenor accepted a job as a biology teacher and the head wrestling coach and assistant basketball coach at

Golden High School Golden High School is a secondary school located in Golden, Colorado, Golden, the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Jefferson County Public Schools (Colorado), Jefferson County Public Schools district. H ...

in Golden, Colorado. In March 1938, he announced his retirement from professional football and agreed to become the head football and basketball coach at Centennial High School in

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo County, Colorado ...

, starting in September 1938. During the 1939-1940 academic year, he led the Centennial football team to runner-up status in the Colorado state championship game and the basketball team to a Colorado Class A state championship. In February 1942, Grosvenor announced that he would resign his position at Centennial High School in June 1942 to accept a position with the engineering department of the

Colorado Fuel and Iron The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I) was a large steel conglomerate founded by the merger of previous business interests in 1892.Scamehorn, Chapter 1, "The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, 1892-1903" page 10 By 1903 it was mainly owned and co ...

company. In 1961, he published a paper about the company's basic oxygen steel-making plant in

. In all, Grosvenor spent approximately 30 years with Colorado Fuel and Iron, retiring as the superintendent of steel production. He later worked for several years as a consultant to Fundidora Steel in

Monterey, Mexico Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anc ...

. Grosvenor died in 2001 at age 91 in Pueblo. His remains were cremated with inurnment at the Ascension Episcopal Church Columbarium in Pueblo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosvenor, George 1910 births 2001 deaths American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks Chicago Bears players Chicago Cardinals players Colorado Buffaloes football players Players of American football from Oklahoma