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Fred Gehrke
Clarence Fred Gehrke (/ˈɡɜːrki/ GUR-kee; April 24, 1918 – February 9, 2002) was an American professional football player and executive. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland / Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Cardinals from 1940 through 1950. To boost team morale, Gehrke designed and painted the Los Angeles Rams logo in 1948, which was the first painted on the helmets of an NFL team. He later served as the general manager of the Denver Broncos from 1977 through 1981. He is the great-grandfather of Milwaukee Brewers left fielder and 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich.
Gehrke was born and raised in Salt Lake City. As a youth, he sneaked into Utah Utes football games. He there developed a love for the sport. He attended South High School where he participated in swimming, track and field, and football. He graduated from high school in 1935 and then attended the University of Utah, where he majored in art. At Utah, he started at running back on offense and left cornerback on defense. He also returned punts and kickoffs.
Gehrke entered the National Football League as (NFL) an undrafted rookie. He landed a try-out with the Cleveland Rams in 1940. He was awarded a spot on team after he returned a kickoff for a touchdown in a pre-season exhibition game. His first contract with Cleveland paid him $135 per game. However, he did not play in many games that season because Parker Hall, the NFL's MVP in 1939, was the Rams' starting running back and his success kept Gehrke on the bench.
When the United States entered World War II in 1941, Gehrke reported for military service. However, he was denied entry in the armed forces when military examiners noticed an operation scar across Gehrke's knee; he was immediately designated with a 4F status. Gehrke appealed the decision but was still denied entry in the armed forces. However, Gehrke contributed to the war effort by landing a job with Northrop Aircraft, which was based in California, as a technical illustrator, and began helping with the design of airplanes. He was on the team that drafted and designed the P-61 Black Widow warplane.
In 1942, Gehrke joined the Hollywood Bears of the Pacific Coast Professional Football League, which at this time had a talent level considered to be on par with NFL, since many NFL players were in the military stationed on the West Coast and others were working in war industries there. The players worked their jobs during the day and then worked out and played their games at night. Gehrke played for the Los Angeles Bulldogs in 1943 and the Los Angeles Wildcats in 1944.
Once the war ended in 1945, Gehrke returned to the Cleveland Rams. That season, the Rams won the 1945 NFL Championship Game by defeating the Washington Redskins 15–14. Gehrke led the NFL that year in both average rushing yards, with 6.3 yards per rush, and an average punt return of 15.0 yards. He was then named to Pro Football Illustrated 's All-Pro team. In 1946 the Rams relocated to Los Angeles. That season, Gehrke was named to Pro Football Illustrated 's All-NFL second-team. He also repeated as the NFL's average rushing leader with 5.2 yards per carry. He also continued working at Northrup, since many players at the time took up jobs outside of football during the off-season. He would then take three months off to play professional football.
In the mid-1940s, Gehrke toyed with the notion of painting a football helmet. Rams coach Bob Snyder suggested Gehrke paint a helmet with the ram horns on it that he could present to the team's owner Dan Reeves. Gehrke painted two ram horns on an old college helmet and presented the design to Reeves, who was intrigued. Reeves then contacted the NFL for a ruling on legality of having a football helmet painted. It was reported [citation needed] that the answer Reeves received from the NFL was "You're the owner; do what you want!" Reeves then tasked Gehrke to paint 75 helmets at $1.00 per helmet. The project took Gehrke the entire summer of 1948.
The newly painted helmets debuted during a pre-season match-up between the Rams and Redskins at the Los Angeles Coliseum before a crowd of 105,000. Upon seeing the new helmets the crowd began cheering, which was followed by a five-minute standing ovation. To this day, Gehrke's rams horn logo is still worn by the team. By 1949, the Riddell sporting goods company had created a plastic helmet, baking in Gehrke's design. Some observers of the 1950 NFL Championship Game said that the only way to tell the Rams and the Cleveland Browns apart in the initial low resolution coast-to-coast telecast was the distinctive horns on the Rams' helmets. Throughout the 1950s many professional and college teams began painting logos to their helmets.
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Fred Gehrke
Clarence Fred Gehrke (/ˈɡɜːrki/ GUR-kee; April 24, 1918 – February 9, 2002) was an American professional football player and executive. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland / Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Cardinals from 1940 through 1950. To boost team morale, Gehrke designed and painted the Los Angeles Rams logo in 1948, which was the first painted on the helmets of an NFL team. He later served as the general manager of the Denver Broncos from 1977 through 1981. He is the great-grandfather of Milwaukee Brewers left fielder and 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich.
Gehrke was born and raised in Salt Lake City. As a youth, he sneaked into Utah Utes football games. He there developed a love for the sport. He attended South High School where he participated in swimming, track and field, and football. He graduated from high school in 1935 and then attended the University of Utah, where he majored in art. At Utah, he started at running back on offense and left cornerback on defense. He also returned punts and kickoffs.
Gehrke entered the National Football League as (NFL) an undrafted rookie. He landed a try-out with the Cleveland Rams in 1940. He was awarded a spot on team after he returned a kickoff for a touchdown in a pre-season exhibition game. His first contract with Cleveland paid him $135 per game. However, he did not play in many games that season because Parker Hall, the NFL's MVP in 1939, was the Rams' starting running back and his success kept Gehrke on the bench.
When the United States entered World War II in 1941, Gehrke reported for military service. However, he was denied entry in the armed forces when military examiners noticed an operation scar across Gehrke's knee; he was immediately designated with a 4F status. Gehrke appealed the decision but was still denied entry in the armed forces. However, Gehrke contributed to the war effort by landing a job with Northrop Aircraft, which was based in California, as a technical illustrator, and began helping with the design of airplanes. He was on the team that drafted and designed the P-61 Black Widow warplane.
In 1942, Gehrke joined the Hollywood Bears of the Pacific Coast Professional Football League, which at this time had a talent level considered to be on par with NFL, since many NFL players were in the military stationed on the West Coast and others were working in war industries there. The players worked their jobs during the day and then worked out and played their games at night. Gehrke played for the Los Angeles Bulldogs in 1943 and the Los Angeles Wildcats in 1944.
Once the war ended in 1945, Gehrke returned to the Cleveland Rams. That season, the Rams won the 1945 NFL Championship Game by defeating the Washington Redskins 15–14. Gehrke led the NFL that year in both average rushing yards, with 6.3 yards per rush, and an average punt return of 15.0 yards. He was then named to Pro Football Illustrated 's All-Pro team. In 1946 the Rams relocated to Los Angeles. That season, Gehrke was named to Pro Football Illustrated 's All-NFL second-team. He also repeated as the NFL's average rushing leader with 5.2 yards per carry. He also continued working at Northrup, since many players at the time took up jobs outside of football during the off-season. He would then take three months off to play professional football.
In the mid-1940s, Gehrke toyed with the notion of painting a football helmet. Rams coach Bob Snyder suggested Gehrke paint a helmet with the ram horns on it that he could present to the team's owner Dan Reeves. Gehrke painted two ram horns on an old college helmet and presented the design to Reeves, who was intrigued. Reeves then contacted the NFL for a ruling on legality of having a football helmet painted. It was reported [citation needed] that the answer Reeves received from the NFL was "You're the owner; do what you want!" Reeves then tasked Gehrke to paint 75 helmets at $1.00 per helmet. The project took Gehrke the entire summer of 1948.
The newly painted helmets debuted during a pre-season match-up between the Rams and Redskins at the Los Angeles Coliseum before a crowd of 105,000. Upon seeing the new helmets the crowd began cheering, which was followed by a five-minute standing ovation. To this day, Gehrke's rams horn logo is still worn by the team. By 1949, the Riddell sporting goods company had created a plastic helmet, baking in Gehrke's design. Some observers of the 1950 NFL Championship Game said that the only way to tell the Rams and the Cleveland Browns apart in the initial low resolution coast-to-coast telecast was the distinctive horns on the Rams' helmets. Throughout the 1950s many professional and college teams began painting logos to their helmets.
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