Emile Fritz, Jr. was an American 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...

 player. Fritz was selected in the thirteenth round of the 1947 NFL Draft

1947 NFL Draft

The 1947 National Football League Draft was held on December 16, 1946.The National Football League in this draft made the first overall pick a bonus pick determined by lottery. The Chicago Bears won the first lottery...

.

In the late 1930s, Fritz attended Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

, where he played on the football team as a guard

Guard (American football)

In American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team....

. He then served overseas in the United States military for 25 months, before enrolling again in college, this time at the University of Maryland

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

. At Maryland in 1945, Fritz played under the legendary head coach, Paul "Bear" Bryant

Bear Bryant

Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...

, who had been an assistant coach for Fritz at Vanderbilt before the war.

In 1946, the Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 named Fritz an honorable mention All-American

College Football All-America Team

The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...

.

Fritz was selected in the thirteenth round of the 1947 NFL Draft

1947 NFL Draft

The 1947 National Football League Draft was held on December 16, 1946.The National Football League in this draft made the first overall pick a bonus pick determined by lottery. The Chicago Bears won the first lottery...

 (115 overall) by the Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

.

At Maryland, Fritz was a member of the Delta Phi chapter of the Sigma Nu

Sigma Nu

Sigma Nu is an undergraduate, college fraternity with chapters in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Sigma Nu was founded in 1869 by three cadets at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia...

fraternity.