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>No, that Mike Renfro was the son of Ray, who played for the Browns in the 40s &
>50s. Ray was a shirttail relative of my father, who also played in the AAFL.
>Dad only lasted 3 games, badly ripped knee. 49er alum #1. I played ball in
>HS. Not too terrific.
I remember Ray Renfro since I'm from Ohio. Was he from North Texas State? Incidentally, what qualifies a person as a "shirttail relative"?
Hannah still has his HS's school record in shot and discus. I believe he also wrestled.
Noticed Ellis Goodloe's records in the 100 and 200. I think the 200 is the most inaccurate conversion. I've seen many schools whose school records in the 200 date back to the stone age, thanks to the conversion from yards to meters. Not to take anything away from Goodloe, who went on to sprint for the Florida Gators. Back in the '50s, I think.
"Roosevelt Grier was 7 US, 9 W, on performers list in both 1954 and 1955, with 55'8.25" and 56'3.5"; got a 5th and a 6th in NCAA in 1954 and 1955, plus a 6th in AAU in 1955."
I see that he also threw the discus. This is all that I have.
Randalls Island Summaries, NYTimes of 5/25/55
Discus 1) Roosevelt Grier, Penn State, 170 feet 6 inches
Shot Put 1) Roosevelt Grier, Penn State, 55 feet 11 inches; 2. Ken Bantum, Manhattan 54 feet 103/4 inches
Same day 1) Arnie Sowell 1:49.1; 2) Courtney Sowell's time was a National Collegiate record
100 yard 1. John Haines 9.5; event record, which beat old 9.6 by Wykoff, Ewell, Cowie, Stanfield, Pllard, Thresher"
The best shotputter among the inductees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is Elvin Bethea from the '60s. I was surprised to find that Rosey Grier is not an inductee.
The highest world ranker (or would-be world ranker for those throwers before the T&FN rankings started in 1947) who played pro football was Al Blozis (would have been world #1 in '40, '41, '42).
Chuck Mercein, one of the stars of the famed "Ice Bowl" playing full back for the Packers, was No. 40 on the '65 U.S. list at 56-8 1/4. That put him a quarter inch behind.... Brian Oldfield!
I was spectating at the IC-4A outdoors at Randall's Island in 1955. Football Hall of Famer Rosey Grier was probably world ranked in both the shot and discus, if memory serves, based on U.S. performances, though he didn't compete internationally. I think he won both events for Penn State. He threw the javelin as well. Kenny Bantum, from Manhattan, I think was second in the shot and he went to the '56 Olympics, finishing 4th (O'Brien 1st, Neider 2nd), after winning the NCAA and AAU shot titles. His best shot put was 60'1/2" in '56. He threw discus and hammer as well. He competed in track for Manhattan but it had ended football years earlier. He was very tall for the era, about 6'6". The 49'rs had three current high school record holders on the team at the same time, in the early '80s: Russ Francis, javelin, Mike Carter, shot, and Renaldo Nehemiah, high hurdles.
Rosey Grier was probably world ranked in both the shot and discus, if memory serves, based on U.S. performances, though he didn't compete internationally.
Rosie Grier was ranked 10th in the world in the shot in 1955, but was not world-ranked in the discus.
Jack Torrance doesn't seem to have been mentioned yet... SP world record holder for 14 years, NFL champion with the Chicago Bears in 1940 (they won the championship game against the Redskins 73-0); though he wasn't as good as a footballer as he was as a shot putter.
Last edited by LopenUupunut; 02-16-2017, 03:55 PM.
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