George"The Brute"Trafton My Father got his start in football where he worked & honed his skills & was a star for the early powerhouses at Oak Park and River Forest High School under the legendary Bob Zuppke future Illinois coach. He graduated in 1916 and then worked; life guarded at the Lake Michigan beach and played semi-pro football until he enlisted in the Army in 1918. He was stationed at Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois and captained the base football team. And was discovered by Knute Rockne who scouted the war time service games & put George at starting center & captain the same team as future roommate George Gipp In January of 1920, while the starting center on the basketball team, he was expelled from school by the school's athletic board of control after coach Knute Rockne discovered that Trafton had played for money that fall under assumed names . His loss was a huge one for the Irish since Trafton was also a shot putter on the track team and the center on the basketball squad. With his collegiate eligibility erased, Almost immediately, Trafton discovered new ways to use his bulk on the basketball court. In his first game with Beloit, the Fairies demolished Stoughton 39-10 and the Beloit News described the rough and tumble action: "The Fairies polished them off with basketball, fisticuffs, and other diversions as the evening was a full one. Brumm of Stoughton furnished Trafton with fistic amusement."
Trafton quickly signed to play professional hoops with the Beloit Fairies in Wisconsin .Of course, Trafton's reputation accelerated while with the Chicago Bears and he enjoyed being called "the toughest man in football." Even his revered teammate Red Grange said of Trafton: "He was the toughest, meanest, most ornery critter alive. He started playing semi pro football & being the team Captain they were know as Trafton's Bears eleven, which was known as the Decatur Staleys,at the time it joined the NFL as a charter member in 1920.Later became the Chicago Bears.at the time it joined the NFL as a charter member in 1920.

Posted by George Trafton Jr. on 05/13/2024 @ 14:41pm