Ordell Braase obit

Ordell W. Braase has died

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Ordell W. Braase, a 12-year veteran of the Baltimore Colts, passed away Monday, March 25, 2019 in Bradenton, FL. He was 87 and had resided in Florida for the past four years. Mr. Braase was born and raised in Mitchell, SD. He excelled in basketball and football both in high school and at the University of South Dakota, where he earned a BS degree. Following service in the US Army, he joined the Colts as defensive end and was twice named to the Pro-Bowl. He served as President of the NFL Players Association for two terms. After retirement, he remained active in the Baltimore area, becoming a color broadcaster for the Colts and co-hosting a radio and television sports show. He owned a popular restaurant in Towson, MD. He was proud of his service on the Maryland Racing Commission and honored to be named to the SD Hall of Fame as well as the SD Sports Hall of Fame and the SD University Hall of Fame.

During his football career in Baltimore, Braase performed in commercials for Dixie Cola, even singing their jingle.

Following his retirement as an active player, Braase was a restaurant owner in Timonium, Maryland, and in the 1970s was an executive with a Baltimore truck body manufacturer. He also teamed with play-by-play announcer Chuck Thompson to provide color commentary for radio broadcasts of Colts games. In the 1990s, he co-hosted a popular program, Braase, Donovan, Davis and Fans on WJZ-TV in Baltimore with fellow Colt teammate Art Donovan. The trio talked more about Art Donovan's fabled stories than contemporary NFL football, but the show held high ratings in its time period.

Braase was a people person who never forgot his friends in South Dakota nor in Baltimore. He loved hunting on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and pheasant hunting in South Dakota. He was preceded in death by his wife, Janice, in 1997. He is survived by four children, Elizabeth B. Hopkins of Darlington, MD, Thomas F. Braase of Cockeysville, MD, Jonathan K. Braase of Castle Rock, CO and Andrew M. Braase of Perryville, MD; six grandchildren and partner, DeAnne Robinson of Bradenton, FL. Services in Maryland are pending. Brown & Sons Funeral Homes & Crematory 43rd Street Chapel is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to the University of South Dakota Foundation for the Ordell Braase Endowment Scholarship for deserving football athletes from South Dakota, PO Box 5555, Vermillion, SD 57069 or the Baltimore Boys and Girls Clubs, 1201 South Sharp Street, Suite 302.   Baltimore MD 21230.