Bob St. Clair, Hall of Fame 49ers lineman, dies at 84
He was not on the list.
Former 49ers offensive tackle Bob St. Clair, a hulking Hall
of Famer and colorful San Francisco native who spent nearly his entire playing
career in the city, died Monday at 84 in Santa Rosa.
USF, where Mr. St. Clair played on the famed unbeaten 1951
team, confirmed his death in a statement on its website.
“On behalf of the entire USF community, I would like to
extend my deepest condolences to the St. Clair family on the passing of one of
the greatest Dons of all time,” USF athletic director Scott Sidwell said. “Bob
was a great San Franciscan who, along with his ’51 Dons teammates, embodied the
character and values of our university by taking a courageous stand against
racism in the early ’50s. He will be greatly missed.”
During his 11-year career with the 49ers, Mr. St. Clair,
6-foot-9 and 270 pounds, was known for his toughness, and also for his famous
habit of eating raw meat. A five-time Pro Bowl selection who spent the early
part of his career playing with a leather helmet, he broke his nose at least
six times, played an entire quarter with a broken shoulder, once stayed in a
game after a blocked kick resulted in the loss of five teeth and twice had
Achilles tendon surgery.
Before he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in
1990, he was asked if the players of his era could have competed in the modern
NFL.
“I don’t think the question should be “Could we play
today?’” he said. “The question is, “Could these candy-asses have played with
us?’”
Mr. St. Clair, who grew up in the Mission District and
Ingleside, spent all but one season of his 18-year high school, college and NFL
career playing at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. The field was named after him
in 2001.
After graduating from Polytechnic High School, he attended
USF and was a member of one of the best college teams in Bay Area history. The
1951 Dons went 9-0 and had more than half a dozen future NFL players; three of
whom — Mr. St. Clair, running back Ollie Matson and defensive end Gino
Marchetti — are in the Hall of Fame. But they are best known for a game they
declined to play: They chose not to go to a bowl game because their two African
American players, Matson and Burl Toler, would not have been permitted to play
After USF dropped its football program following the 1951
season, Mr. St. Clair transferred to the University of Tulsa for his senior
year. His heart, however, remained in San Francisco. Tulsa went 8-1-1 and
received an invitation to the Gator Bowl, but St. Clair had been invited to
play in the East-West Shrine Game at Kezar, which was a boyhood dream.
“The team voted 51-1 to accept the Gator Bowl bid,” he said.
“Everyone was wondering who the hell voted no.”
A third-round pick of the 49ers in 1953, Mr. St. Clair spent
the early part of his career opening holes for the “Million Dollar Backfield,” a
quartet of quarterback Y.A. Tittle and running backs John Henry Johnson, Hugh
McElhenny and Joe Perry. Each member of the foursome was inducted into the Hall
of Fame by 1987. Mr. St. Clair often joked that he eventually joined them
because hall voters finally realized someone had to be blocking the 49ers’ host
of skill-position stars.
McElhenny, his teammate from 1953 to 1960, said Mr. St.
Clair’s unique blend of size and speed made him a dominant blocker. McElhenny
recalled that the only player who weighed as much as Mr. St. Clair was Les
Bingaman, and the Lions defensive tackle “was just a big fat guy.”
“I do recall sitting
in my position in the backfield, and about all I would be looking at was Bob’s
big ass because he was just so tall and high,” McElhenny said. “He was just so
much bigger than the rest of the offensive line. And the defensive line, too.
He had great speed for his size. He would have made a great tight end today.
Many times, I know he gave me a lot of daylight.”
During his career, Mr. St. Clair also played defense in
goal-line situations, and his height made him a special-teams force: He blocked
10 field-goal and extra-point attempts in 1956. Mr. St. Clair was a team
captain and a nine-time first- or second-team all-NFL selection. He is one 12
players to have his jersey retired by the 49ers.
Off the field, his raw-meat-eating habit earned him the
nickname “The Geek,” inspired by a character who was fed live chickens in the
1947 movie “Nightmare Alley.”
“My grandmother used to feed me raw meat off the kitchen
table,” Mr. St. Clair once explained of his habit. “I grew to love raw liver
and hearts, bird hearts, dove and quail.”
Said McElhenny: “He’d order a steak and have it thrown on
the grill to take the chill off. Have it turned over and have it served. That’s
how he did it. He also ate raw liver. Sometimes when you were sitting with him
and he was eating that ... it was kind of gross. But, no, we didn’t think
anything was wrong with him. That was just how he was raised.”
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