fjs64

Tomorrow a St Bonaventure graduate will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of fame.

Yes, St Bonaventure once had football. Jack Butler graduated in 1951, and finally, one of the greatest defensive backs will get his due. This is actually a "feel good" story, that a person who's "on field" heroics that were long forgotten, finally gets into the Hall. Here was a young man that didn't play football in high school, almost went into the seminary, went to St Bonaventure, and because his roommates played football, they convinced him to try out. He eventually made the team.....did not get drafted after graduation, but he had a connection to the Pittsburgh Steelers.......the owner of the Steelers was a Rooney, the AD at Bonas was also a Rooney, a brother of the owner. Jack got a tryout and made the team. Anyway, here is an article....and I will post a few others.

Hope you enjoy the story.

http://gobonnies.com/gennews/ButlerHOFEnshrinement

fjs64

A couple of articles, one talks about when Johnny Unitas was cut from the Steelers in 1955, he was cut at the Steelers preseason facility.....well that facility was on the campus of St. Bonaventure.

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bi...icle982634.ece

http://blogs.buffalonews.com/press-c...t-st-bona.html

fjs64

Receiving the NFL HOF Gold Jacket....

http://gobonnies.com/gennews/ButlerGoldJacket

res

Frank, the story I always heard was that Unitas had to hitch out of town but not before downing a couple of beers at the Burton. Whether there's any truth to it, I do not know.

fjs64

What we know based on Butler's account is that Unitas was a passenger in his car. He was then cut while on campus, so he had to get to Pittsburgh in some way, and hitch-hiking back then made sense, and a long trek required some sort of sustenance, and the Burton was a popular place near campus. So what you heard, must be true.

Bona84

With a burger?

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Bona84

fjs64

The induction into the Hall.....

http://gobonnies.com/gennews/ButlerBronzeBust

Bona Wolf for Pope

Congrats to Jack Butler. The Bonas-Pittsburgh connections are numerous, and this is one of the better ones.

We just need someone in the NHL Hall of Fame, and we've got all four major sports covered.

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fjs64

Just in case anyone wants to know in addition to Jack Butler, the others are:

Basketball:
Bob Lanier


Baseball:
John J. McGraw
http://baseballhall.org/hof/mcgraw-john
Hugh Jennings
http://baseballhall.org/hof/jennings-hugh