Comments on: Concrete Charlie http://blog.denverbroncos.com/jsaccomano/concrete-charlie/ Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:43:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: captainportugal http://blog.denverbroncos.com/jsaccomano/concrete-charlie/comment-page-1/#comment-30057 captainportugal Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:50:27 +0000 http://blog.denverbroncos.com/jsaccomano/2007/08/27/concrete-charlie/#comment-30057 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. 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.

]]> By: SlvrSurfRidr http://blog.denverbroncos.com/jsaccomano/concrete-charlie/comment-page-1/#comment-30056 SlvrSurfRidr Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:42:34 +0000 http://blog.denverbroncos.com/jsaccomano/2007/08/27/concrete-charlie/#comment-30056 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. 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.

]]>