George Wayne Hansen (October 6, 1928 – August 24, 1987) 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 ...

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 ...

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) 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 ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He 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 ...

at the

University of Texas, El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

Early years

Hansen was born in

McCamey, Texas McCamey is a city in Upton County, Texas. Its population was 1,887 at the 2010 census. The Texas legislature has declared McCamey "the Wind Energy Capital of Texas" because of the many wind farms that have been built in the area. Its history, howe ...

and attended Monahans High School. He accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Texas-El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

, where he played nose tackle, linebacker and center. He opened holes for

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Fred Wendt Fred Wendt (July 15, 1924 – May 18, 2020) was an American football player. He played college football for the UTEP Miners football team. He led the NCAA major colleges in rushing yardage with 1,570 rushing yards in 1948. His total of 1,570 ru ...

and Pug Gabrel, helping the team lead the nation in rushing in 1948. He was a part of back-to-back

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

appearances and returned a kickoff 51 yards for a touchdown, to clinch a 33-20 victory over

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in the

1950 Sun Bowl The 1950 Sun Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Texas Western Miners and the Georgetown Hoyas. Background The Miners finished 3rd in the Border Conference in Curtice's final year with the team, as they tried to get their ...

. In 1973, he was inducted into El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2013, he was inducted into the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2014, he was named to the UTEP's Centennial football team. In 2008, he was named to the 75th Anniversary All-

team.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Hansen was selected in the sixth round (76th overall) of the 1950 NFL Draft. He became the starter at center as a rookie, displacing Clyde "Bulldog" Turner. He played center, offensive guard and defensive tackle, before being converted to linebacker in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

. He was also the team's defensive captain during most of his time with the Bears. He temporarily retired at the end of the 1957 season. On November 10,

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, because of injuries, he was lured out of retirement to help the team. He retired again at the end of the year.

Dallas Cowboys

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, the

convinced him to come out of retirement to be a part of their inaugural season. He became one of the first starters at

outside 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, ...

in franchise history (the other was

Gene Cronin Gene Edward Cronin (born November 20, 1933) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League for the Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins, and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of the Pacific. ...

). He retired at the end of the year, having missed only two games in 10 seasons.

Personal life

Besides having different business interests, he served as an assistant football coach at Texas Western, Oklahoma, and Stanford. On August 24, 1987, he died after battling bone cancer.

References

External links

UTEP bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Wayne 1928 births 1987 deaths People from Monahans, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football linebackers Chicago Bears players Dallas Cowboys players UTEP Miners football players Monahans High School alumni People from McCamey, Texas