Quentin Sickels
Encyclopedia
Quentin Brian "Quent" Sickels (born December 22, 1926) is a former American football
player. He played college football
for the University of Michigan
in 1944 and from 1946 to 1948. He played on Michigan's undefeated 1947
and 1948 national championship team
s. His college football career was interrupted by service in the United States Coast Guard
during the 1945 football season.
. He played three years of varsity football for Benton Harbor High School
and led his team to the state championship as senior in 1943. At the end of the 1943 season, he was picked as a first-team all-conference player and was also "picked for a line spot on several All-State teams." He was also an honor student, a member of the National Honor Society
, the National Thespians, vice-president of the Hi-Y Club, and a chief petty officer of the Sea Scouts.
in June 1944 with plans to major in marine architecture. He played four years of varsity football for the Michigan Wolverines football
team under head coaches Fritz Crisler
and Bennie Oosterbaan
. Sickels was a member of Phi Kappa Psi
fraternity at Michigan. He graduated in 1949 with a Bachelors of Business Administration.
position as a 17-year-old freshman in 1944. He started all 10 games for the 1944 Michigan team
that was ranked #8 in the final AP Poll
. After the 1944 season, Sickels was selected as a second-team All-Big Ten Conference player.
. On leaving Ann Arbor, Sickels told reporters he hoped to return to the university after the war: "Michigan is a great school. Crisler, [Biggie] Munn
and the other coaches were a swell bunch of fellows, and I hope to come back and help beat the tar out of those guys at Ohio State." In February 1945, Sickels was assigned for training to the Coast Guard School in Groton, Connecticut
. He served in the Coast Guard for a year-and-a-half and missed the 1945 season. He was discharged in the spring of 1946 after tours in Europe and the far east.
that finished the season ranked #6 in the final Associated Press poll.
. In November 1947, Sickels was selected by the Associated Press as "the outstanding guard of the nation" for two consecutive weeks. He was also recognized as an "honorable mention" on the United Press All-American team for 1947.
Sickels led the Michigan defense in its 49-0 victory over USC in the 1948 Rose Bowl
. He played every minute on defense until he was knocked unconscious by a kick to the head late in the second quarter. The kick reportedly left "a dent in his headgear as large as a man's fist." Despite the injury, he returned to the game and played the second half. After the game, a newspaper account noted:
to its second consecutive undefeated, untied season and an undisputed national championship. After a 35-0 victory over Navy in November 1948, The Michigan Daily selected Sickels as the lineman of the week. The paper noted: "Navy's game was just another contest for Sickels. He carried out his assignments with the same adeptness and fervor as in previous games. The Middies couldn't even trickle through his side of the line." After concluding his football career at Michigan, Sickels was honored at a banquet in his hometown attended by several of his Michigan teammates. Coach Oosterbaan wrote of Sickels, "No coach could ever ask for a finer gentleman or a better player."
as the 147th pick in the 1948 NFL Draft
, but he chose a career in business. As of 1950, he was employed in Detroit by the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
. That same year, he was engaged to Gloria May Morrison of Detroit. The were married in February 1951 at the North Woodward Congregational Church in Detroit. They had three children, Quentin Brian, Jr. (born c. 1953), Lauren Brook (born c. 1955) and Heather Sickels (born c. 1957).
From 1953 to 1958, Sickels was employed in Florida (two years in Orlando and three years in Miami) by Corporate Groups Service, Inc., an insurance company, as a vice president and general manager in charge of special workers' compensation plans.
In 1958, Sickels returned to Detroit and became employed as a registered representative of Manley, Bennett & Company, a member of the New York Stock Exchange. He remained with that company at least through 1963.
In 1963, Sickels was elected as the president of the University of Michigan's "M" Club.
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. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
for 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...
in 1944 and from 1946 to 1948. He played on Michigan's undefeated 1947
1947 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team, nicknamed the "Mad Magicians", represented the University of Michigan in the 1947 college football season. Coached by Fritz Crisler, the Wolverines finished undefeated and untied with a 10–0 record...
and 1948 national championship team
1948 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1948 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan during the 1948 college football season. The team's head coach was Bennie Oosterbaan. The Wolverines played their home games at Michigan Stadium.-Schedule:...
s. His college football career was interrupted by service in the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
during the 1945 football season.
Early years
Sickels was the son of Fred Roy Sickels, the athletic director and coach at Benton Harbor Junior High School in Benton Harbor, MichiganBenton Harbor, Michigan
Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan which is located west of Kalamazoo. The population was 10,038 at the 2010 census. It is the lesser populated of the two principal cities included in the Niles-Benton Harbor, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a...
. He played three years of varsity football for Benton Harbor High School
Benton Harbor High School
Benton Harbor High School is a high school in Benton Harbor, Michigan, United States, owned and operated by Benton Harbor Area Schools.The school is made up of a number of "learning communities":*Communication, Arts & Business Academy...
and led his team to the state championship as senior in 1943. At the end of the 1943 season, he was picked as a first-team all-conference player and was also "picked for a line spot on several All-State teams." He was also an honor student, a member of the National Honor Society
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...
, the National Thespians, vice-president of the Hi-Y Club, and a chief petty officer of the Sea Scouts.
University of Michigan
Sickels enrolled at the University of MichiganUniversity 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...
in June 1944 with plans to major in marine architecture. He played four years of varsity football for the Michigan Wolverines football
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
team under head coaches Fritz Crisler
Fritz Crisler
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of...
and Bennie Oosterbaan
Bennie Oosterbaan
Benjamin Gaylord "Bennie" Oosterbaan was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team and an All-Big Ten Conference baseball player for the baseball team...
. Sickels was a member of Phi Kappa Psi
Phi Kappa Psi
Phi Kappa Psi is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania on February 19, 1852. There are over a hundred chapters and colonies at accredited four year colleges and universities throughout the United States. More than 112,000 men have been...
fraternity at Michigan. He graduated in 1949 with a Bachelors of Business Administration.
1944 season
Sickels played at the guardGuard (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....
position as a 17-year-old freshman in 1944. He started all 10 games for the 1944 Michigan team
1944 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1944 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1944 college football season. The team's head coach was Fritz Crisler. The Wolverines played their home games at Michigan Stadium.-Schedule:-Starters:...
that was ranked #8 in the final AP Poll
AP Poll
The Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
. After the 1944 season, Sickels was selected as a second-team All-Big Ten Conference player.
Military service
On December 21, 1944, the day before his 18th birthday, Sickels joined the United States Coast GuardUnited States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
. On leaving Ann Arbor, Sickels told reporters he hoped to return to the university after the war: "Michigan is a great school. Crisler, [Biggie] Munn
Biggie Munn
Clarence Lester "Biggie" Munn was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator in the United States. He was the head football coach at Albright College , Syracuse University , and most notably Michigan State College , where his 1952 squad won a national championship...
and the other coaches were a swell bunch of fellows, and I hope to come back and help beat the tar out of those guys at Ohio State." In February 1945, Sickels was assigned for training to the Coast Guard School in Groton, Connecticut
Groton, Connecticut
Groton is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,907 at the 2000 census....
. He served in the Coast Guard for a year-and-a-half and missed the 1945 season. He was discharged in the spring of 1946 after tours in Europe and the far east.
1946 season
Sickels returned to the University of Michigan in time for summer football training in August 1946. He played for the 1946 Michigan Wolverines football team1946 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1946 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1946 college football season. The team's head coach was Fritz Crisler...
that finished the season ranked #6 in the final Associated Press poll.
1947 season
In February 1947, Sickels underwent knee surgery at the University of Michigan Hospital. The surgery revealed that a bone chip suffered several years earlier had torn ligaments. Despite missing spring practice following the knee surgery, Sickels was able to play at the defensive guard position for the undefeated 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team1947 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team, nicknamed the "Mad Magicians", represented the University of Michigan in the 1947 college football season. Coached by Fritz Crisler, the Wolverines finished undefeated and untied with a 10–0 record...
. In November 1947, Sickels was selected by the Associated Press as "the outstanding guard of the nation" for two consecutive weeks. He was also recognized as an "honorable mention" on the United Press All-American team for 1947.
Sickels led the Michigan defense in its 49-0 victory over USC in the 1948 Rose Bowl
1948 Rose Bowl
The 1948 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1948. It was the 34th Rose Bowl Game, and the second since the Big Nine Conference and the Pacific Coast Conference reached an exclusive agreement to match their champions in the game each year. In the game, the Michigan...
. He played every minute on defense until he was knocked unconscious by a kick to the head late in the second quarter. The kick reportedly left "a dent in his headgear as large as a man's fist." Despite the injury, he returned to the game and played the second half. After the game, a newspaper account noted:
"Everyone agreed following the Jan. 1 game that Quentin was the outstanding defensive lineman on the field and that seldom had such an excellent performance been given by a guard in the bowl encounter. That well did Quentin perform. ... Sickels played like a 'mad man,' and indeed he was, for he remembers nothing of the fray from his injury until midway through the last quarter. Quentin was rushing passers unmercifully, making innumerable tackles in the Southern California backfield ..."
1948 season
As a senior, Sickels helped lead the 1948 Michigan Wolverines football team1948 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1948 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan during the 1948 college football season. The team's head coach was Bennie Oosterbaan. The Wolverines played their home games at Michigan Stadium.-Schedule:...
to its second consecutive undefeated, untied season and an undisputed national championship. After a 35-0 victory over Navy in November 1948, The Michigan Daily selected Sickels as the lineman of the week. The paper noted: "Navy's game was just another contest for Sickels. He carried out his assignments with the same adeptness and fervor as in previous games. The Middies couldn't even trickle through his side of the line." After concluding his football career at Michigan, Sickels was honored at a banquet in his hometown attended by several of his Michigan teammates. Coach Oosterbaan wrote of Sickels, "No coach could ever ask for a finer gentleman or a better player."
Later years and family
Sickels was selected by the Detroit LionsDetroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
as the 147th pick in the 1948 NFL Draft
1948 NFL Draft
The 1948 National Football League Draft was held on December 19, 1947 at the Fort Pitt Hotel in Pittsburgh.-Player selections:-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:-Round five:-Round six:-Round seven:-Round eight:...
, but he chose a career in business. As of 1950, he was employed in Detroit by the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
3M
3M Company , formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, United States....
. That same year, he was engaged to Gloria May Morrison of Detroit. The were married in February 1951 at the North Woodward Congregational Church in Detroit. They had three children, Quentin Brian, Jr. (born c. 1953), Lauren Brook (born c. 1955) and Heather Sickels (born c. 1957).
From 1953 to 1958, Sickels was employed in Florida (two years in Orlando and three years in Miami) by Corporate Groups Service, Inc., an insurance company, as a vice president and general manager in charge of special workers' compensation plans.
In 1958, Sickels returned to Detroit and became employed as a registered representative of Manley, Bennett & Company, a member of the New York Stock Exchange. He remained with that company at least through 1963.
In 1963, Sickels was elected as the president of the University of Michigan's "M" Club.