Clarence McGeary

McGeary was born on August 8, 1926, in St. Paul, Minnesota.[1] He began his football career in his hometown before attending White Bear Lake High School; he was their second alumni to make it to the NFL.[2][3] He transferred to Hastings High School in Nebraska in 1942, but arrived too late to be eligible to play that season; he played for the football team as a tackle in 1943.[4] McGeary then played as a forward for the Hastings basketball team and lettered with the track and field team.[2][5] After graduating, he served close to two years in World War II with the United States Army Air Forces.[2][6] Awarded a Purple Heart for his service, he was a staff sergeant and served 47 missions in China, India, Japan, Guam, Okinawa, Hawaii and Australia.[7]

McGeary began playing for the Minnesota Golden Gophers in 1946 and as a freshman became the starting right tackle.[8] He was the president of his freshman class.[7] After one season there, he joined the North Dakota State Bison in 1947.[9] He returned to the Bison in 1948 and played end before switching to center in 1949.[10][11] He was an all-conference performer with the Bison, while working insurance in Fargo, North Dakota, in the off-season.[7]

McGeary was selected in the 30th round (281st overall) of the 1948 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers.[12] He was also selected in the 30th round (212th overall) of the 1948 AAFC Draft, but chose to remain in college instead of immediately sign with a professional team.[13][14] He signed with the Packers in July 1950.[7] In his first season, he played all 12 games and was used as a first-string defensive tackle; he also saw time as a tackle on offense as a fill-in for injured players.[13][15] He was released by the Packers on September 25, 1951.[16]

Shortly after being released by the Packers, McGeary signed with the Montreal Alouettes Canadian football team.[17] He appeared in seven games for the team at tackle, starting all of them, although he later noted that Canadian football "didn't compare with the NFL."[6][15] He retired from football in 1952 and then served with the Bismarck, North Dakota, station KFYR-TV as an announcer; he also had a television program with them and was a play-by-play broadcaster for the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team.[13] He stayed in shape by playing semi-professional basketball and attempted a comeback in June 1955 by re-signing with the Packers.[13] He left the team in July 1955 after having a chest infection.[18]

McGeary had a daughter while with the Packers, and he learned of her birth through an announcement by the public address announcer during one of his games.[19] He had six children in total.[20] He continued his broadcasting career after the end of his playing career and also became a professional wrestler during his football career.[21] In order to supplement his income while playing, McGeary said that, in addition to wrestling, he also bet on Packers games each week.[20] As a wrestler, he competed in around 1,500 matches and had a tag team with Bronco Nagurski, who was his favorite player growing up.[20]

In 1959, he coached a football team known as the South Broward Volunteers in Florida and the following year he began operating bowling alleys with boxer Rocky Marciano.[15][20][22] After selling his share of the bowling alleys to Marciano in the 1960s, McGeary became a founder of the Federation of Christian Athletes and worked in the marina business.[20] He died on April 6, 1993, at the age of 66 in Salt Lake City, Utah.[1]