Elzaphan McConnell "Zip" Hanna (December 1, 1916 – January 18, 2001) 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 wi ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

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 ...

for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, wearing jersey #39. Hanna attended Chester High School in Chester, South Carolina as well as

Gaffney High School Gaffney High School (GHS) is a public high school in Gaffney, South Carolina in the United States. It is part of the Cherokee County School District. History The high school building was opened at its campus in 2000 at a cost of $22 million. ...

in Gaffney, SC. Hanna was invited to play in the first S.C.-N.C. Shrine Bowl, but rejected the invitation as Gaffney was playing for the Southeastern Football Championship. He played college football at the University of South Carolina, and served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

prior to joining the Redskins. In 1946, suffering from knee injuries, he became a player-coach of the Charlotte Clippers semi-pro team. In the latter part of 1946, he became chief of police in

Rock Hill, South Carolina Rock Hill is the largest city in York County, South Carolina and the fifth-largest city in the state. It is also the fourth-largest city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, behind Charlotte, Concord, and Gastonia (all located in North Carolina, ...

. In 1955, he accepted the position of chief of police in Aiken, SC, from which he retired. After retiring, he moved to the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

area and formed a home builders group. Hanna died in January 2001 at the VA Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina.

References

1916 births 2001 deaths American football offensive guards People from Chester, South Carolina South Carolina Gamecocks football players Washington Redskins players People from Rock Hill, South Carolina United States Navy personnel of World War II {{offensive-lineman-1910s-stub