George Franck
Born: | Davenport, Iowa | September 23, 1918
---|---|
Died: | January 19, 2011 Rock Island, Illinois | (aged 92)
Career information | |
Position(s) | Halfback |
College | Minnesota |
NFL draft | 1941 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6 |
Career history | |
As player | |
1941–1947 | New York Giants |
Career stats | |
| |
George Henning "Sonny" Franck (September 23, 1918 – January 19, 2011) was an American football halfback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants.
Early years[]
Franck was born in Davenport, Iowa. After his playing years and early teaching and coaching career he returned to nearby Rock Island, Illinois.
Franck played college football at the University of Minnesota from 1938-1940, where he was a key player in the dominant national championship team of 1940. While in college Franck was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity.[1] He was drafted in the first round (sixth overall) in the 1941 NFL Draft. Franck was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002.[2]
War service[]
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Franck joined the United States Marines Corps and served as pilot. He was a spotter during the Battle of Iwo Jima, and he saw Notre Dame football star Jack Chevigny taking cover in a crater shortly before Chevigny was killed in action. Frank later served aboard the USS Hornet.[3]
Post-war[]
After the war, he continued to play with the Giants from 1945 to 1947. He eventually became a high school teacher and coach in Oklahoma City and then Rock Island High School in Illinois. He was a member of Broadway Presbyterian Church and enjoyed bowling. He was survived by Helen, his wife of 57 years.[4] He bought and lived in the Shields House in Highland Park Historic District in Rock Island, IL.,[5] which is now owned by Filipino-American author, Jason Tanamor.[6]
References[]
- ^ 1940 Minnesota Gopher yearbook, p.70, accessed 12 Aug 2020.
- ^ "George Franck Stats".
- ^ "Sonny Franck dead at 92".
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-01-21.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Highland Park Historic District
- ^ "'Like living in a 1950s neighborhood'".
External links[]
- 1918 births
- 2011 deaths
- American football halfbacks
- Corpus Christi Naval Air Station Comets football players
- Minnesota Golden Gophers football players
- New York Giants players
- High school football coaches in Illinois
- High school football coaches in Oklahoma
- All-American college football players
- College Football Hall of Fame inductees
- United States Marine Corps pilots of World War II
- United States Marine Corps officers
- Sportspeople from Davenport, Iowa
- Players of American football from Iowa
- American Presbyterians
- Military personnel from Iowa