Matthew Emory Hazeltine, Jr. (August 2, 1933 – January 13, 1987) was a professional American football linebacker who played fifteen seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the San Francisco 49ers and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. Hazeltine was a 1951 graduate of Tamalpais High School in

Mill Valley, California Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

, and was a star player there and at the University of California, Berkeley. He was elected to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 1989. While with the 49ers, Hazeltine was selected for the Pro Bowl twice, in 1963 and 1965. He was captain of the team for five years. Hazeltine missed the 1969 season with injuries, but returned in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

for one season with the

. Following his retirement from the gridiron, Hazeltine operated a successful insurance agency in San Francisco. He died in San Francisco on January 13, 1987. He was one of three 1964 San Francisco 49ers teammates who died of

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

(ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The other two were Bob Waters and Gary Lewis.Catamount Athletics, "Tribute to a Champion - the Bob Waters' Legacy"
, accessed July 12, 2007

Notes

1933 births 1987 deaths Players of American football from San Francisco American football linebackers California Golden Bears football players San Francisco 49ers players New York Giants players Western Conference Pro Bowl players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Neurological disease deaths in California Deaths from motor neuron disease Tamalpais High School alumni People from Ross, California Players of American football from Marin County, California {{linebacker-1930s-stub

See also

Notes