Ronald Beagle (February 7, 1934 – September 8, 2015) 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 ...

end. Beagle was born in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

but played high school football in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. The 6 foot one inch, 185-pounder entered the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

in 1952. A physical player, Beagle won

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

recognition in his junior and senior seasons during an era in which ends played 60 minutes. He was honored with the Maxwell Award after his junior year in 1954, in which he had 30 receptions, 451 yards rushing and four touchdowns to complement his stout defense. He finished his three-year career with 64 receptions for 849 yards (mostly from George Welsh) and eight touchdowns despite fighting through a broken hand.Maxwell Award Website
/ref> He also was All-America in lacrosse. Beagle was 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 ca ...

in the 17th round of the 1956 NFL Draft, two picks before the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

took Bart Starr. Before he was to join the Cardinals, he served four years in the United States Marines. He suffered a knee injury while playing football in the service and was never able to recover. He went into business in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

. Beagle married a Navy nurse, Jo Ann Jones. Their daughter, Ronda J. Beagle, graduated from the Naval Academy in 1984. The Beagles were among the first families with a father and daughter who graduated from the academy. Ronda Beagle authored a 1993 book on the Navy's efforts to recruit women. Uniquely in the history of the sport, Beagle and

Roger Staubach Roger Thomas Staubach (, -; , -; born February 5, 1942), nicknamed "Roger the Dodger", "Captain America", and "Captain Comeback", is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for ...

played football for the same high school (Purcell in Cincinnati), played college ball at the same school (Navy), won the Maxwell Trophy, made All-America, and eventually were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, with Beagle receiving that honor in 1986.

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* 1934 births 2015 deaths American football ends Navy Midshipmen football players Navy Midshipmen men's lacrosse players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Maxwell Award winners Sportspeople from Hartford, Connecticut Players of American football from Cincinnati Players of American football from Hartford, Connecticut {{collegefootball-player-stub