John Francis "Mickey" Colmer (October 23, 1918 – July 20, 2000) 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 ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

. Colmer was born in

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...

, in 1918 and attended Redondo Union High School. He was an All-Southland fullback in 1936. He did not play college football, opting instead to play professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

after graduating from high school. He played minor league baseball for three years with the

Moline Plowboys The Moline Plowboys was a primary name of the minor league baseball teams based in Moline, Illinois, one of the Quad Cities. Moline teams played as members the 1892 Illinois-Iowa League, 1894 Western Association, the Mississippi Valley League (1 ...

(1938), Bisbee Bees (1938-1939), and

Tucson Cowboys , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

(1940). He compiled a .353 batting average with Bisbee in 1938. He also appeared in 11 games as a pitcher in 1940. Colmer played football while serving in the Army and began playing professionally for the Los Angeles Bulldogs. He next played professional football in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

from 1946 to 1948 and for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in 1949. He appeared in 48 professional football games, 29 of them as a starter, and totaled 1,537 rushing yards, 899 receiving yards, and 21 touchdowns. Colmer died in 2000 in Redondo Beach, California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colmer, Mickey 1918 births 2000 deaths American football fullbacks Brooklyn Dodgers (AAFC) players New York Yankees (AAFC) players Players of American football from Torrance, California People from Redondo Beach, California