George Anderson McAfee, #5 Chicago Bears NFL HOFamer, Dies March 4, 2009
George A. McAfee
George A. McAfee, 90, passed away Wednesday, March 4, 2009, in a suburban Atlanta hospice.
Funeral service will be held 1:00 p.m. Friday, March 13, 2009 at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Durham, NC.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 82 Kimberly Drive, Durham, NC 27707.
George Anderson McAfee was born March 13, 1918, in Corbin, KY, to Clarence and Mary Lida McAfee, the 10th of 12 children, and grew up in Ironton, Ohio. He always joked that the first children awake in the morning were the only ones who could wear shoes for the day. A standout athlete for the Tigers of Ironton High School, George earned a football scholarship to Duke University to play for legendary coach Wallace Wade. While at Duke he earned first-team All America honors at running back and was a member of the 1938 "Iron Dukes" who were undefeated, untied, and unscored upon during the regular season. After graduation in 1940, George embarked on a professional football career with the NFL's Chicago Bears, coached by George Halas. Utilizing his speed and an uncanny ability to change the course of a game at any time, George quickly established himself as one of the league's premier players, earning the nickname "One-Play McAfee" and guiding the Bears to NFL Championships in 1940 and 1941. At the peak of his professional football career, George volunteered for military service during World War II, serving as a Naval Officer from 1942-1945. He married Jeanne Mencke of Baltimore on June 15, 1945. George returned to the Bears in 1945, won another NFL Championship in 1946, and continued to play offense, defense, and return punts and kicks for Chicago until his retirement in 1950. Always fond of his college town, George returned to Durham in 1950 and made the Bull City his home. He started McAfee Oil Company, an oil distribution service, with his brother, Wes, and continued to officiate NFL games for several years. George operated McAfee Oil for over 30 years, until he sold the company and retired in the early 1980's. The McAfee family lived on Forest Road in north Durham, then on Bristol Road in Hope Valley. In later years George was a resident of the Methodist Retirement Home and Croasdaile Village Retirement Home. Always a gentleman, he was a proud member of the Durham Kiwanis Club, the Durham Sports Club, the Duke University Iron Dukes, and a volunteer with Meals on Wheels. George was enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1961, the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1967, and the charter class of the Duke Sports Hall of Fame in 1975. He was named to the NFL's 1940's All-Decade Team and the All-Time Two Way Team, and he held the NFL record for punt return average at 12.78 yard until recently. George was kind, quick witted, and humble - he never spoke of his successes on the football field - and his warm sense of humor brought smiles to the faces of many. He loved spending time at the McAfee's family cottage in Topsail Beach, NC, and he loved attending Duke athletic events. George stayed active throughout his life and never turned down the opportunity to take a walk. George cherished his loving family above all, and they will always cherish him.
George was preceded in death by his son, George A. McAfee, Jr., his wife of 53 years, Jeanne Mencke McAfee; and seven brothers; and three sisters. He is survived by a brother, Jack, of Cincinnati, OH, his daughter Cheryl Morgan, and husband, David, of Stone Mountain, GA, daughter, Mary Jeanne Stouffer, and husband, Paul, of Fort Worth, TX, grandchildren Terri Harris, Stephanie Kay, and husband, Rodney, Lieutenant Paul McAfee Stouffer, Caroline Stouffer, Charlotte Stouffer; great-grandchildren, Trevor and Payton Harris, and Lee and Morgan Kay, plus many nieces and nephews.
Published in The News & Observer on 3/10/2009
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George A. McAfee (1918 - 2009)
George A. McAfee, 90, passed away Wednesday, March 4, 2009, at a suburban Atlanta, Ga., hospice.
Funeral: 1 p.m. Friday, March 13, at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Durham, N.C.
Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 82 Kimberly Drive, Durham, N.C. 27707.
George Anderson McAfee was born March 13, 1918, in Corbin, Ky., to Clarence and Mary Lida McAfee, the 10th of 12 children, and grew up in Ironton, Ohio.
A standout athlete for the Tigers of Ironton High School, George earned a football scholarship to Duke University to play for legendary coach Wallace Wade. While at Duke he earned first-team All America honors at running back and was a member of the 1938 "Iron Dukes" who were undefeated, untied and un-scored upon during the regular season. After graduation in 1940, George embarked on a professional football career with the NFL's Chicago Bears, coached by George Halas. Utilizing his speed and an uncanny ability to change the course of a game at any time, George quickly established himself as one of the league's premier players, earning the nickname "One-Play McAfee" and guiding the Bears to NFL championships in 1940 and 1941. At the peak of his professional football career, George volunteered for military service during World War II, serving as a naval officer from 1942-1945. He returned to the Bears in 1945, won another NFL championship in 1946, and continued to play offense, defense, and return punts and kicks for Chicago until his retirement in 1950. Always fond of his college town, George returned to Durham, N.C., in 1950 and made the Bull City his home. He started McAfee Oil Company, an oil distribution service, with his brother, Wes, and continued to officiate NFL games for several years. George operated McAfee Oil for over 30 years until he sold the company and retired in the early 1980s. George was enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1961, the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1967, and the charter class of the Duke Sports Hall of Fame in 1975. He was named to the NFL's 1940s All-Decade Team and the All-Time Two Way Team, and he held the NFL record for punt return average at 12.78 yard until recently.
George was preceded in death by his son, George A. McAfee Jr.; his wife of 53 years, Jeanne Mencke McAfee; seven brothers; and three sisters.
Survivors: Brother, Jack of Cincinnati, Ohio; daughter, Cheryl Morgan and husband, David, of Stone Mountain, Ga.; daughter, Mary Jeanne Stouffer and husband, Paul, of Fort Worth; grandchildren, Terri Harris, Stephanie Kay and husband, Rodney, Lt. Paul McAfee Stouffer, Caroline Stouffer, Charlotte Stouffer; great-grandchildren, Trevor and Payton Harris, and Lee and Morgan Kay; and many nieces and nephews.
Published in Star-Telegram on 3/12/2009
George A. McAfee
George A. McAfee, 90, Durham, March 4. Arrangements by A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home, Decatur, Ga.
Published in The News & Observer on 3/10/2009
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George McAfee, N.F.L. Hall of Famer, Dies at 90
By FRANK LITSKY
Published: March 5, 2009
George McAfee, a Hall of Fame two-way threat who carried the football, passed it, kicked and punted it, returned kicks and punts and roamed the defensive backfield for the mighty Chicago Bears teams of the 1940s, died Wednesday in Durham, N.C. He was 90.
Associated Press
George McAfee in 1949.
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Durham confirmed his death, The Associated Press reported. McAfee had attended the church.
Red Grange, a star of earlier Bears teams, called McAfee “the most dangerous man with the football in the game.” McAfee’s coach at Duke University, Wallace Wade, called him “a one-man offense, and practically unstoppable.” And George Halas, the Bears’ longtime owner and coach, said, “The highest compliment you can pay any ball carrier is just compare him with McAfee.”
For all that, McAfee had a relatively short career in the National Football League, interrupted by injury and World War II. But in his prime, undersize even then at 6 feet tall and about 177 pounds, he was an impressive player, passing left-handed, punting with his left foot and, as a former college sprinter, establishing himself as one of the fastest, most explosive players in the league.
At game time, he was known to put away his high-top shoes — almost every player wore them — in favor of a new, low-cut style that made him faster and more elusive, he said, “almost as though I didn’t have any shoes at all.”
He was colorful fodder for the sports press, acquiring the nickname “One-Play” because, people said, he was likely to score any time he handled the ball.
“The debate around Chicago has been as to whether McAfee is just as good as Jim Thorpe ever was, or better,” John F. Kieran, the sports columnist for The New York Times, wrote in 1940, the year McAfee was drafted in the first round by the Philadelphia Eagles and traded to the Bears for three veteran linemen.
In his debut with the Bears, in an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Dodgers, he scored the winning touchdown on a 75-yard punt return in the final minute. In his first regular-season game, he returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown against Green Bay. And in the season finale, the Bears’ 73-0 rout of the Washington Redskins in the championship game, he returned a pass interception more than 30 yards for a touchdown. He also helped lead the Bears to another championship in 1946.
Some of his potentially best years, from 1942 to 1945, were lost to war service after he enlisted in the Navy. When he returned, he played only the last three games of 1945. The next season, he missed three games because of a knee injury.
He retired after the 1950 season and went into the oil distribution business for 31 years.
In all, he gained 5,313 combined yards, 1,685 of them rushing, and had 25 interceptions in eight seasons with Chicago. An all-N.F.L. selection in 1941, he led the league in punt return average in 1948 and holds the N.F.L. record for career punt return average (12.78) for those with a minimum of 75 returns. (Roscoe Parrish, an active player with the Buffalo Bills, is ahead of his pace.)
McAfee, whose jersey number, 5, was retired by the Bears, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.
George Anderson McAfee was born March 13, 1918, in Corbin, Ky. Soon afterward his family moved across the Ohio River to Ironton, Ohio, a town known for a strong football tradition. One of his several brothers, Wes, became an N.F.L. running back.
At Duke, McAfee helped the Blue Devils to a 24-4-1 record and two Southern Conference titles from 1937 to 1939. The team played in the Rose Bowl in 1938. In his senior season, he led the team in rushing, receiving, scoring, kickoff returns, punt returns, interceptions and punting and earned first-team all-American honors as Duke went 8-1.
In the spring of his senior year, McAfee batted .353 while playing center field on Duke’s baseball squad, which went 16-7. He also captured the 100-meter title at the Southern Conference track and field championships. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1961.
McAfee was married and had children, but information about survivors was not available.
Even by the N.F.L.’s standards of the 1940s, McAfee was not especially imposing physically. And that was a motivating influence, he said years later in an interview with NFL.com, recalling his first Bears camp.
“I never saw so many big men in my life,” McAfee said. “I remember clearly, on one of the first scrimmage plays, that a rookie halfback was knocked cold.”
He added: “Whenever I ran with the ball, I had that picture in my mind, of that back, there on the ground, cold as a stone. I would run as fast as I could if there was any daylight.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/sports/football/06mcafee.html?partner=rss&emc=rsshttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/sports/football/06mcafee.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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George McAfee dies at 90; college, pro football Hall of Famer
George McAfee, who played both offense and defense for the Chicago Bears in the 1940s, was nicknamed “One Play” for his ability to change the course of a game. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.
By Claire Noland
March 6, 2009
George McAfee, who was an explosive threat playing both offense and defense for the Chicago Bears in the 1940s, died Wednesday in Durham, N.C. He was 90.
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George McAfee obituary: The obituary of Hall of Fame Chicago Bears halfback George McAfee in Friday's Section A said he died in Durham, N.C. He died in Snellville, Ga. —
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Duke University, where McAfee was an All-American in 1939, announced his death. The cause was not given.
Nicknamed "One Play" for his ability to change the course of a game, McAfee was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.
Despite a pro career that lasted only eight years, sandwiched around a hitch in the Navy during World War II, the Bears retired his No. 5 jersey after his playing days ended.
Selected in the first round of the 1940 NFL draft, McAfee was a halfback, defensive back and dangerous punt and kick returner.
In his first regular-season pro game, he returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown and passed for another. In the NFL championship game at the end of that season, he intercepted a pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown, one of 10 Bears who scored in a 73-0 rout of the Washington Redskins. He wound up winning two more NFL titles with the Bears, in 1941 and 1946.
"The highest compliment you can pay any ball carrier is to just compare him with McAfee," legendary Bears Coach George Halas was known to say of the 6-foot, 178-pound speedster.
Overall, McAfee scored 234 points, gained 5,313 all-purpose yards and intercepted 25 passes in eight seasons. He also averaged 12.78 yards on 112 punt returns, which stood as an NFL record for a number of years. In 1948, he led the league in punt-return yardage with 417 on 30 chances. That season he also recovered 11 fumbles, a league high.
He retired after the 1950 season and, according to Duke, operated an oil business in Durham.
George Anderson McAfee was born March 13, 1918, in Corbin, Ky., and grew up in Ironton, Ohio.
At Duke, he earned a football letter in 1937, '38 and '39, a stretch during which the Blue Devils went 24-4-1 and won two Southern Conference titles. They played in the 1939 Rose Bowl, losing 7-3 to USC. McAfee also starred in baseball and track at Duke and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1961.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-george-mcafee6-2009mar06,0,3936880.storyhttp://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-george-mcafee6-2009mar06,0,3936880.story
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Re: George Anderson McAfee, #5 Chicago Bears NFL HOFamer, Dies March 4, 2009
Jerry McAfee 4/06/09