Martin Peter Wendell (November 22, 1926 – March 7, 2012) 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 wi ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

who played one season with the Chicago Hornets of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). He was drafted by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

in the eighth round of the

1948 NFL Draft The 1948 National Football League Draft was held on December 19, 1947, at the Fort Pitt Hotel in Pittsburgh. This was the second year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery, with the previous year's winner Chicago Be ...

. He played college football at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

and attended St. George High School in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...

Early years

Wendell played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for the St. George High School Dragons as a quarterback.

College career

Wendell joined the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

in 1944 as a fullback and

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, ...

. He did not play for Notre Dame in 1945 due to being in 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 ...

. However, he did play football for the Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets. Wendell returned to Notre Dame in 1946 was moved from fullback on offense to

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

while still playing linebacker on defense. In 1947, he was moved to guard on offense while still playing linebacker. He started at guard and linebacker his senior year in 1948 and earned All-American honors. After the 1948 season, head coach

Frank Leahy Francis William Leahy (August 27, 1908 – June 21, 1973) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1939 to 1940 and at ...

called him the best linebacker he had ever coached. Wendell

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

all four years he played for the Fighting Irish and was later billed as the first Notre Dame player to win three letters at three different positions (FB/C/G). He majored in business administration at Notre Dame.

Professional career

Wendell was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the 33rd pick in the 1948 AAFC Draft. He was also selected by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 63rd pick in the

. Wendell played in ten games, starting eight, for the Chicago Hornets in 1949. He was later selected by 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 ...

in the second round of the 1950 AAFC dispersal draft.

Personal life

Wendell became a successful businessman in his hometown after his football career. He was later inducted in the

Chicago Sports Hall of Fame The Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, located in the Hawthorne Race Course, in Stickney/Cicero, near Chicago, honors sports greats associated with the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded in 1979 as a trailer owned by the Olympia Brewing Compan ...

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wendell, Marty 1926 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American football centers American football fullbacks American football guards American football linebackers Chicago Hornets players Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Players of American football from Chicago Businesspeople from Illinois United States Navy personnel of World War II