Chester Noyes Bulger (September 18, 1917 – February 18, 2009) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player and coach. He played professionally as a tackle in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for 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 ...

. Bulger was born in

Rumford, Maine Rumford is a New England town, town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. Rumford is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 5,858 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Ru ...

, and after graduating from Stephen's High School, he attended

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

on a track and field scholarship, where he then walked onto the football team. Bulger played for the Chicago Cardinals from 1942 to 1949, where he was part of the line that helped lead the Cardinals to the

NFL Championship Throughout its history, the National Football league (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national ...

in 1947. After retiring from football in 1951, Bulger remained in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and became a teacher, coach, and eventual athletic director at

De La Salle Institute De La Salle Institute is a private, Catholic, coeducational high school run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It was founded by Brother Adjutor o ...

. He remained there until 1982 and was subsequently an integral member of the school's development office into the early 1990s. In 2007, De La Salle honored Bulger's contributions to the school by renaming the main athletic field in his honor. Bulger served as the head football coach at Saint Mary's College—now known as

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota (SMUMN) is a private Catholic university with its primary campuses in Winona and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It comprises an undergraduate residential college in Winona; graduate and professio ...

—

Winona, Minnesota Winona ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, Minnesota, United States. Located in bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf (Winona, Minnesota), Sugar Loaf. The population was 2 ...

for one season, in 1954. Saint Mary's football program was disbanded after the season. Bulger died of natural causes on February 18, 2009, at his home in

Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia and the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,146. Fairfax is pa ...

. He was 91.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * 1917 births 2009 deaths American football tackles Auburn Tigers football players Auburn Tigers men's track and field athletes Card-Pitt players Chicago Cardinals players Detroit Lions players Saint Mary's Redmen football coaches High school football coaches in Illinois Players of American football from Fairfax, Virginia People from Rumford, Maine Coaches of American football from Maine Players of American football from Maine Track and field athletes from Maine 20th-century American sportsmen {{offensive-lineman-1910s-stub