Now, you have to admit, that’s some nickname.
Unfortunately, with each passing day, fewer fans know to whom that moniker applies.
On Saturday night at our preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, someone mispronounced Concrete Charlie’s last name.
When I made the correction, the party just said, “Whatever. Hey, is he in the Hall of Fame?”
Yes, he is. And I certainly understand that the most recent breed of fans and players might have some lack of awareness here.
For the uninitiated, “Concrete Charlie” is Chuck Bednarik, who was a center and linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1949-62.
A two-time All-American and two-way player at Penn, Bednarik was the NFL’s last true two-way star — that is, he played both sides of the ball throughout the game, not as a novelty, but for his entire career.
He missed just three games in 14 years and led the Eagles’ last world championship team in 1960, a game in which he played 58 minutes and made the literal game-saving tackle in the closing seconds, giving Philadelphia the crown.
He is described at the Pro Football Hall of Fame as “rugged, durable, a bulldozing blocker and bone-jarring tackler.”
And no one ever relished contact more than this guy.
Nine times an All-NFL selection, Bednarik was named the NFL’s all-time center in 1969.
One of the immortal photos in pro football history shows New York Giants star halfback Frank Gifford absolutely prone, knocked out by a ferocious Bednarik hit. Standing above Gifford is a fiercely celebratory Bednarik. Gifford was out of the game for one full year.
There are a lot of players like that, great players from every age and era.
Just because we have not heard of all of them should not diminish their greatness.
In fact, Bednarik still follows pro football very closely and has frequently opined that he sees few players today whom he believes are as tough as he — and he is 82 years old.
Here’s to Concrete Charlie, and to those special players whose performance have earned them the best nicknames.
Tags: Chuck Bednarik, Hall of Fame
Nice post Jim, I’m part of that newer generation that haven’t heard the legend of Concrete Charlie, and now I have. What impresses me almost as much as his football credentials is that he didn’t really get into football until he returned from World War II (after a 30-mission tour as a B-24 waist gunner with the Army Air Corps that saw him win the Air Medal). He showed up unheralded at the University of Pennsylvania, where he went on to win All-America honors as a center his last two seasons.
Charlie is what the game is about, well done good sir.
I live in the Philly area, worship the Birds, and had the pleasure of meeting Bednarik about two years ago. Never got to see him play. He lives up to the legend still and remains a man amongst boys. I believe that he could, at 80-whatever, still beat the tar out of most modern players. The man’s hands are huge and it looks like every single one of his fingers has been broken multiple times such that they are pointing in all sorts of gruesome-looking directions. I could only imagine (and I think the modern player would also have a tough time imagining) how incredible it was for Charlie to do what he did on both sides of the ball, playing in the era that he did. Gifford sure knows….every green-bleeding Eagles fan (including myself) has that picture you described on their wall…even if they (like me) never saw him play a down. One other legend is that Bednarik suffered a severe tear to his bicep muscle, and so he missed only one series during which he had the trainer push the muscle down from around his shoulder and tape into place more near his elbow so he could get back into the game (which he continued to play both ways with one arm). Whoever it was that mispronounced his name should be thankful ol’ Charlie was not around, because he’s still legendary around these parts for his confrontational, gruff demeanor. Throw the ball to Javon Walker.