Elroy Hirsch
Encyclopedia
Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch (June 17, 1923 – January 28, 2004) was an American
football
running back and receiver for the Los Angeles Rams
and Chicago Rockets
, nicknamed for his unusual running style.
, Wisconsin
. He developed his running style running cross legged over four square cement sidewalk blocks in his home town. Hirsch played for legendary coach Win Brockmeyer
during his time at Wausau High School.
Hirsch played his first college season with the University of Wisconsin
Badgers
in 1942. His nickname was permanently affixed to him by Chicago Daily News sportswriter Francis Powers who, upon witnessing him play for the Badgers against the Great Lakes Naval Station in 1942, wrote "His crazy legs were gyrating in six different directions, all at the same time; he looked like a demented duck."
His commitment to the United States Navy
V-12
program in United States Marine Corps
required him to transfer to the University of Michigan
. He played two intercollegiate football seasons for the Michigan Wolverines
where during the 1943-44 year he earned the distinction of being the only athlete at the school to letter in four sports (football, basketball
, track
and baseball
) in a single year. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1974.
of the All-America Football Conference
, where he played from 1946 to 1948, in three injury-prone seasons. After the Rockets and the AAFC merged with the NFL
, he joined the Los Angeles Rams through 1957, where he gained his fame. Coach Clark Shaughnessy
made Hirsch the first full-time "flanker" in NFL history, splitting the talented receiver outside from his previous halfback position. Additionally, he was one of the first to sport the molded plastic helmet that is the industry standard today in the NFL, which Coach Shaughnessy fitted for him as a precaution, as he was injured when first joining the Rams. When playing for Chicago in an All-America game against the Cleveland Browns, Hirsch was tackled so badly that his right knee ligaments were torn. He also suffered a fractured skull above his right ear. He was key to the Rams victory in the 1951 NFL
championship with a NFL record 1,495 yards receiving, a record that stood for 19 years. He also had 66 catches, and 17 touchdowns that same year. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
in 1968 with a career 387 receptions, 7,029 yards, and 60 touchdowns.
from 1969 to 1987. Within four years, he had raised home attendance at football games from 43,000 to 70,000. During his tenure as athletic director, the number of sports offered by the UW athletics department doubled and the Badgers won national titles in hockey, men's, and women's crew, and men's and women's cross country.
Hirsch died of natural causes at an assisted living home in Madison, Wisconsin
on January 28, 2004. An annual run, the "Crazylegs Classic", is held in Madison in his honor, with proceeds benefiting the UW Athletics Department.
of his life in 1953, Crazylegs
. He also starred in the movies Unchained
and Zero Hour!
, a 1957 airline
disaster movie.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
running back and receiver for the Los Angeles Rams
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
and Chicago Rockets
Chicago Rockets
The Chicago Rockets was an American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. During the 1949 season, the team was known as the Chicago Hornets...
, nicknamed for his unusual running style.
Early life
Hirsch was born in WausauWausau, Wisconsin
Wausau is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city. The city is adjacent to the town of Wausau.According to the 2000 census, Wausau had a population of 38,426 people...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. He developed his running style running cross legged over four square cement sidewalk blocks in his home town. Hirsch played for legendary coach Win Brockmeyer
Win Brockmeyer
Win Brockmeyer was an American football coach from Wausau, Wisconsin.-Background:Winfred Otto Brockmeyer was born in Mankato, Minnesota on September 16, 1907, the son of Otto and Margaret Brockmeyer. He attended the University of Minnesota where he played football under two legendary college...
during his time at Wausau High School.
Hirsch played his first college season with the University of Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
Badgers
Wisconsin Badgers football
The Wisconsin Badgers are a college football program that represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest stadium in college football...
in 1942. His nickname was permanently affixed to him by Chicago Daily News sportswriter Francis Powers who, upon witnessing him play for the Badgers against the Great Lakes Naval Station in 1942, wrote "His crazy legs were gyrating in six different directions, all at the same time; he looked like a demented duck."
His commitment to the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
V-12
V-12 Navy College Training Program
The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II...
program in United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
required him to transfer to the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. He played two intercollegiate football seasons for the Michigan Wolverines
Michigan Wolverines
The Michigan Wolverines comprise 27 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except men's ice hockey which competes in the NCAA D1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association, and women's water polo, which...
where during the 1943-44 year he earned the distinction of being the only athlete at the school to letter in four sports (football, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
) in a single year. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
in 1974.
Professional football career
Hirsch was drafted by the Chicago RocketsChicago Rockets
The Chicago Rockets was an American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. During the 1949 season, the team was known as the Chicago Hornets...
of the All-America Football Conference
All-America Football Conference
The All-America Football Conference was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations...
, where he played from 1946 to 1948, in three injury-prone seasons. After the Rockets and the AAFC merged with the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, he joined the Los Angeles Rams through 1957, where he gained his fame. Coach Clark Shaughnessy
Clark Shaughnessy
Clark Daniel Shaughnessy was an American football coach and innovator. He is sometimes called the "father of the T formation", although that system had previously been used as early as the 1880s. Shaughnessy did, however, modernize the obsolescent T formation to make it once again relevant in the...
made Hirsch the first full-time "flanker" in NFL history, splitting the talented receiver outside from his previous halfback position. Additionally, he was one of the first to sport the molded plastic helmet that is the industry standard today in the NFL, which Coach Shaughnessy fitted for him as a precaution, as he was injured when first joining the Rams. When playing for Chicago in an All-America game against the Cleveland Browns, Hirsch was tackled so badly that his right knee ligaments were torn. He also suffered a fractured skull above his right ear. He was key to the Rams victory in the 1951 NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
championship with a NFL record 1,495 yards receiving, a record that stood for 19 years. He also had 66 catches, and 17 touchdowns that same year. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
in 1968 with a career 387 receptions, 7,029 yards, and 60 touchdowns.
Later years
He served as the Director of Athletics for the University of Wisconsin–MadisonUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
from 1969 to 1987. Within four years, he had raised home attendance at football games from 43,000 to 70,000. During his tenure as athletic director, the number of sports offered by the UW athletics department doubled and the Badgers won national titles in hockey, men's, and women's crew, and men's and women's cross country.
Hirsch died of natural causes at an assisted living home in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
on January 28, 2004. An annual run, the "Crazylegs Classic", is held in Madison in his honor, with proceeds benefiting the UW Athletics Department.
Honors
- He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of FameWisconsin Athletic Hall of FameThe Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame is a promenade in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, dedicated to honoring distinguished members of Wisconsin's sports history. New members are honored at a biennial banquet.-History:...
in 1964. - The UW has retired his number 40; it was added to the facade of Camp Randall StadiumCamp Randall StadiumCamp Randall Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. It has been the home of the Wisconsin Badgers football team in rudimentary form since 1895, and as a complete stadium since 1917. It is located on the center-southern region of the University of Wisconsin campus. The stadium seats...
on October 28, 2006. - In 1999, he was ranked number 89 on The Sporting NewsThe Sporting NewsSporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. - He was named to the NFL all-time all-star team.
- Since 1981, the Crazylegs ClassicCrazylegs ClassicThe Crazylegs Classic is an annual eight kilometer running race and two mile walk held each spring in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The course starts at the Wisconsin State Capitol and ends at Camp Randall Stadium. The race was first held in 1982 in honor of Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch...
, an 8-kilometer race leading through downtown Madison and the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus, has been held in his honor each spring.
In popular culture
He starred in the eponymous filmFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
of his life in 1953, Crazylegs
Crazylegs (film)
Crazylegs is a 1953 film about Elroy Hirsch's football career. In college his unconventional dynamic running style allowed him to change directions in a multitude of ways. The media dubbed him "Crazylegs". The name stuck all through his professional career and life. The bulk of this film is...
. He also starred in the movies Unchained
Unchained (film)
Unchained is a 1955 prison film based on the non-fiction book Prisoners are People by Kenyon J. Scudder. The film is most remembered for its theme song, "Unchained Melody", which was a #1 R&B hit for both Al Hibbler & Roy Hamilton in 1955, with Hibbler's version also reaching #3 on the Billboard...
and Zero Hour!
Zero Hour!
Zero Hour! is a 1957 movie whose screenplay was written by Arthur Hailey, starring Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, and Sterling Hayden, and released by Paramount Pictures. Zero Hour! was an adaptation of Hailey's 1956 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation play Flight into Danger...
, a 1957 airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
disaster movie.
See also
- University of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorUniversity of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorThe University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs...