Bednarik, Chuck

Chuck Bednarik, byname of Charles Phillip Bednarik, also called Concrete Charlie, (born May 1, 1925, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died March 21, 2015, Richland, Pennsylvania), American professional gridiron football player who, as a linebacker and centre for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) in the 1950s and early ’60s, was the last player in league history to regularly participate in every play of an NFL game. Bednarik won two NFL championships (1949, 1960) with the Eagles.

An unexceptional football player in high school, Bednarik enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces to fight in World War II soon after his graduation. As a waist gunner, he participated in 30 missions over Europe. Upon his return to the United States in 1945, Bednarik enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania and joined the football team. Blossoming quickly as a player, he earned consensus All-American honours at centre in his junior and senior seasons and in 1948 became the first offensive lineman to win the Maxwell Award as college football’s most outstanding player. He was selected by the Eagles with the first overall pick of the 1949 NFL draft.

After watching the first two games of his rookie season from the bench, Bednarik began a streak of “iron man” play that saw him miss just one more game over the remainder of his 14 seasons in the league. Bednarik was a standout on both sides of the ball—earning All-Pro honours at both centre and linebacker over the course of his career—but he became most famous for his hard-hitting plays on defense. Two of his tackles, both of which took place in 1960, have transcended the others to become part of NFL lore. In a November game against the New York Giants, Bednarik tackled star running back Frank Gifford so ferociously that Gifford was unable to return to the sport until 1962. A familiar photograph taken soon after the tackle shows Bednarik celebrating over a prone Gifford, a gesture that was perceived by some as cruel taunting but that was in fact a reaction not to Gifford’s injury but to the fumble caused by the hit that sealed the win for Philadelphia. Bednarik’s other memorable tackle came in the 1960 NFL championship: with the Eagles holding a 17–13 lead over the Green Bay Packers in the final seconds of the game, Bednarik alone stood between the end zone and Jim Taylor as the Packer fullback rumbled across the Eagles’ 10-yard-line only to be brought down by Bednarik, who remained on top of Taylor until time ran out to clinch the championship for Philadelphia.

Bednarik retired after the 1962 season. He was named to eight career Pro Bowls and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967.