Otto Ole Schnellbacher (April 15, 1923 – March 10, 2008) 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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

and

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

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

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. ...

. He was a twice

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

er. Also a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player, Schnellbacher played for the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...

Providence Steamrollers The Providence Steamrollers were a Basketball Association of America team based in Providence, Rhode Island. As of 2022, the Steamrollers were the last professional sports franchise from one of the Big Four leagues to be based in Rhode Island. ...

and

St. Louis Bombers The St. Louis Bombers were a National Basketball Association team based in St. Louis from 1946 to 1950. Franchise history The St. Louis Bombers were originally part of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. The BAA merged wit ...

in 1948–49. In college, Schnellbacher was a two-sport star at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

, earning him the nickname "the double threat from Sublette". On the gridiron, Schnellbacher, along with teammate

Ray Evans Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter. He was a partner in a composing and song-writing duo with Jay Livingston, known for the songs they composed for films. Evans wrote the lyrics and Living ...

, was KU's first football All-American in 1947. That same season, Schnellbacher led the Jayhawks to a Big 6 conference title and an

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

berth. Schnellbacher also excelled in basketball, where he was a four-time first-team all-conference selection (one of only three Jayhawks to do so). He was a member of the 1943 Big Six conference championship team (which also featured All-American teammates Charles B. Black and the aforementioned Ray Evans) that is regarded as one of the program's greatest teams. Schnellbacher died at the age of 84 from cancer.Otto Schnellbacher dies; starred with Giants, Jayhawks
/ref>

BAA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

* 1923 births 2008 deaths American football defensive backs American men's basketball players Deaths from cancer in Kansas Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players Kansas Jayhawks football players Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players New York Giants players New York Yankees (AAFC) players People from Sublette, Kansas Providence Steamrollers draft picks Providence Steamrollers players St. Louis Bombers (NBA) players Players of American football from Kansas Basketball players from Kansas {{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub