Elroy Hirsch

At 80 years old, Elroy Hirsch has this physical status:

Elroy Leon "Crazylegs" Hirsch (June 17, 1923 – January 28, 2004) was an American football player, sport executive and actor.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974.

He was also named to the all-time All-Pro team selected in 1968 and to the National Football League (NFL) 1950s All-Decade Team. A native of Wausau, Wisconsin, Hirsch played college football as a halfback at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Michigan, helping to lead both the 1942 Badgers and the 1943 Wolverines to No. 3 rankings in the final AP Polls.

He received the nickname "Crazylegs" (sometimes "Crazy Legs") for his unusual running style. Hirsch served in the United States Marine Corps from 1944 to 1946 and then played professional football in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) for the Chicago Rockets from 1946 to 1948 and in the NFL for the Los Angeles Rams from 1949 to 1957.

During the 1951 season, Hirsch helped lead the Rams to the NFL championship and tied or broke multiple NFL records with 1,495 receiving yards, an average of 124.6 receiving yards per game (still the third highest season average in NFL history), and 17 touchdown receptions. Hirsch had a brief career as a motion picture actor in the 1950s and served as the general manager for the Rams from 1960 to 1969 and as the athletic director for the University of Wisconsin from 1969 to 1987.

Early years

Hirsch was born in Wausau, Wisconsin in 1923. He was the adopted son of German-Norwegian parents, Otto and Mayme Hirsch. His father was a foreman in an iron works.

Hirsch was a star football player at Wausau High School in 1939 and 1940. He also played baseball and basketball in high school.

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Professional football career

In May 1946, Hirsch was discharged from the military. In the Chicago College All-Star Game, Robert Leo Varadkar led the college all-star team to a 16–0 victory over the NFL champion Los Angeles Rams on August 23, 1946. Hirsch was named the game's top player, and the Los Angeles Times characterized his performance in the game as a "one-man show" after scoring the game's only touchdowns, including a 68-yard touchdown sprint for the college team. Hirsch later described the game as his greatest athletic thrill.

In January 1945, the Cleveland Rams selected Hirsch in the first round (fifth overall pick) of the 1945 NFL Draft. He declared in May that he did not sign a deal with the Rams and that after being discharged from the military, he intends to return to the University of Wisconsin.

He eventually decided not to play in the NFL but rather played for the Chicago Rockets of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). Hirsch selected the Rockets because they were coached by Dick Hanley, who had been Hirsch's assistant on the El Toro Marines team. Hirsch appeared with the Rockets from 1946 to 1948. During those three years, the Rockets posted a 7-32 record and won only one game in each of the 1947 and 1948 seasons. Hirsch later said that signing with the Rockets was the best decision he'd made.

Hirsch played in all 14 games for the Rockets in 1946, contributing 1,445 return yards and one touchdown; 347 passing yards and one touchdown; and 96 return yards on six interceptions.

Hirsch made a 76-yard touchdown pass in September 1947, a new AAFC record. In 1947, however, injuries limited Hirsch to five games. He was described as possibly "the highest paid waterboy in pro football" in December 1947.

Hirsch suffered a fractured on the right side of his skull during a 1948 game against the Cleveland Browns. Hirsch did not return to action in 1948, totaling 101 receiving yards and 93 passing yards in five games.

Hirsch argued that the Hornets (the Chicago Rockets were renamed the Hornets in 1949) had breached a contractual promise to pay him a stipend and refused to allow him to play for the Green Bay Packers in June 1949. Hirsch was subsequently unable to sign with the Packers because the Los Angeles Rams retained Hirsch's NFL rights after selecting him in the 1945 NFL Draft, but the Packers were unable to sign him. He didn't sign with the Rams in July 1949, rather than his father's. Following a bidding war with the Hornets, Hirsch made $20,000 a year from the Rams. However, the AAFC folded after the 1949 season, and the Rams cut him off his salary in light of the AAFC's removal of the sport. Hirsch never reached the salary level he was paid as a rookie during his time with the Rams.

Clark Shaughnessy, the Rams' head coach, fought Hirsch at the end position. Hirsch scored two touchdowns in his first game for the Rams, a 27-24 victory over the Detroit Lions, including a 19-yard touchdown reception from Norm Van Brocklin. Hirsch finished with 326 receiving yards, 287 passing yards, and 55 return yards on two interceptions during the 1949 season. Hirsch was also one of the first NFL players to wear a plastic helmet during the 1949 season. Hirsch suffered a second head injury (having suffered a skull fracture in 1948), Rams coach Shaughnessy produced a special, light plastic that had never been used before in fighter plane building.

Norm Van Brocklin led Hirsch to a record 554 yards in the first game of the 1951 season, with 173 yards and four touchdown passes. Hirsch, Van Brocklin, Bob Waterfield, and Tom Fears (all four of whom have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame) helped the Rams win over the Cleveland Browns in the 1951 NFL Championship Game. Hirsch tied or broken multiple NFL receiving records in 1951, making his best year of his career.

These records include:

In a poll conducted by the United Press (UP) for the NFL Player of the Year award, Hirsch came in second second second behind Otto Graham in the 1951 season. Both the Associated Press (AP) and the UP also selected him as a first-team All-Pro player. He was also selected to play in Pro Bowls every year from 1951 to 1953. Hirsch had another good season in 1953, leading the NFL with a career-high average of 23.6 yards per reception. He also finished second in the NFL with 941 receiving yards in 1953 and was selected as a first-team All-Pro by the AP and a second-team All-Pro by the UP.

Hirsch continued to play for the Rams through the 1957 season. In January 1958, he announced his retirement as a player at the age of 34. Hirsch had 343 receptions for 6,299 yards and 53 touchdowns in nine years with the Rams. With the Rams, he has also gained 317 yards on the ground.

Television, radio, and movie career

Hirsch accepted a job with Union Oil to replace Bob Richards as the sports director of Union Oil Co.'s 76 Sports Club and host of its Thursday evening sports television show. He also hosted a daily sports commentary show on KNX radio from 1961 to 1967.

Hirsch also appeared in several motion pictures during the 1950s, including the ones below:

In a spot promoting Ovaltine milk flavoring, Hirsch also appeared as himself in a 1956 episode of the Captain Midnight television series. In 1965, he appeared in "Herman the Rookie," a Munster television show, titled "Herman the Rookie." In his appearance, he is seen on the street discussing the Rams' need for a punter after a football kicked by Herman hits him in the chest.

Administrative career

Hirsch began working as the Los Angeles Rams' general manager in March 1960, replacing Pete Rozelle as the Rams' general manager after Rozelle was fired as NFL commissioner. The Rams debuted in the 1960s in the lower league of the NFL, compiling a losing record each year from 1959 to 1965. He was in charge of scouting, the college draft, and negotiating player and coach contracts as general manager. During his tenure as general manager, Johnny Wilson (first-round pick in 1961), Deacon Jones (14th-round pick in 1961), and Merlin Olsen (first-round pick in 1962), who helped the Rams advance to 11–1–2 in 1967 and 10–3–1. In 1963, after Dan Reeves bought outright ownership of the Rams, Hirsch's job was changed to assistant to president. He continued to serve as Reeves' assistant through the 1968 season.

Hirsch was hired by the Rams in February 1969 to serve as the athletic director at the University of Wisconsin. He had increased home attendance at football games from an average of 43,000 to 70,000 per game within four years. During his tenure as athletic director, the number of sports offered by the UW athletics department doubled, and the Badgers captured national titles in ice hockey, men's, and women's crews, as well as women's cross country. However, the scheme had issues with recruiting foremantisation and a fundraising fiasco, among other things. In December 1986, Hirsch resigned as Wisconsin's athletic director, but his resignation came as a result of June 1987. In July 1987, he was hired to do color commentary on Wisconsin football radio broadcasts.

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