Norman S. Standlee (July 19, 1919 – January 5, 1981) 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 and, later in his career,

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 ...

for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

of the

NFL 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 major ...

. He was drafted out of

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

by 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 1941. He paid immediate dividends by finishing fourth in the league in rushing with a total of 414 yards and second in average per carry with 5.1. He helped the

to the league championship title over the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

that year before serving in the armed forces in

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 opposin ...

. Standlee was also the first fullback for the San Francisco 49ers of 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 ...

, playing with

Frankie Albert Frank Cullen Albert (January 27, 1920 – September 4, 2002) was an American gridiron football player and coach. He played as a quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL). Albert attended Stanford University, ...

Johnny Strzykalski John Raymond Strzykalski (December 14, 1921 – June 19, 2002) was an American football halfback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted out of Marquette University by the Green Bay Packers in the 194 ...

, and

Len Eshmont Leonard Charles Eshmont (August 26, 1917 – May 12, 1957) was an American professional football halfback and safety for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) and the San Francisco 49ers, then in the All-America Football Confe ...

in that first backfield of the 49ers. On January 5, 1981, he died of natural causes in a motel room. He was 61.

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* * 1919 births 1981 deaths Sportspeople from Downey, California American football running backs Stanford Cardinal football players Chicago Bears players San Francisco 49ers (AAFC) players San Francisco 49ers players Western Conference Pro Bowl players American military personnel of World War II {{runningback-1910s-stub