Roger Alvin LeClerc (October 1, 1936 – January 21, 2021) 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 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). He played as a center,

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, p ...

, and kicker and coached at the college level for one season.

Playing career

LeClerc played eight seasons for 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 ...

in the

(NFL). He was primarily the placekicker in an era when straight ahead kicking under 50 yards was the preferred style. During his playing career the soccer style kicking that is familiar today was already being used by teams. He was the second leading scorer in team history for years with 377 points, but with the modern game, he has slipped to 8th place. His best season was

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

Coaching career

LeClerc was the head football coach at

Westfield State University Westfield State University (Westfield State) is a public university in Westfield, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1839 by Horace Mann as the first public co-educational college in America without barrier to race, gender, or economic class. Ran ...

in Westfield, Massachusetts for one season, in 1982, compiling a record of 2–7.

Later life

After he retired, LeClerc was a math teacher in

Agawam, Massachusetts Agawam is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 28,692 at the 2020 census. Agawam sits on the western side of the Connecticut River, directly across from Springfield, Massachusetts ...

school system for 30 years. His son 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 ...

as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

. LeClerc died on January 21, 2021.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* 1936 births 2021 deaths American football centers American football linebackers American football placekickers Chicago Bears players Denver Broncos (AFL) players Trinity Bantams football players Westfield State Owls football coaches People from Agawam, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts Coaches of American football from Massachusetts Players of American football from Massachusetts Schoolteachers from Massachusetts {{defensive-lineman-1930s-stub