Elroy Hirsch

1923-

American football player

Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch was one of the National Football League's early pass receiving standouts

who helped glamorize that position, just as pro football offenses were opening up. "Start with those Crazy Legs, the long, muscular limbs that appeared to gyrate in six different directions when shifted into warp speed," the Sporting News wrote. "Elroy Hirsch walked like a duck but ran pass patterns like an awkward young gazelle trying to evade a hungry pursuer."

Defensive backs wore themselves out over 12 years trying to catch Hirsch, who starred for the Los Angeles Rams after three seasons with the Chicago Rockets of the All-America Football Conference. His best year was in 1951, when he caught 17 touchdown passes, nine of 44 yards or more, helping the Rams win the NFL championship. Hirsch, who was central to the Rams' revolutionary "three-end" offense in the 1950s, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968. Hirsch also starred in some movies before becoming a Rams executive. From 1969 through 1987, he was athletic director at the University of Wisconsin, where he helped the Badgers to one of their best seasons ever, in 1942.

Wolverine and Badger

Hirsch grew up in Wausau, Wisconsin. "His first challenge as a skinny high school running back in Wausau had been those crazy legs of his," it says on a Web site devoted to a road race named in his honor, the Crazylegs Classic. "One foot points out farther than the other, so he was the halfback who wobbled as he ran." "Hirsch ran like a demented duck," Francis Powers wrote in the Chicago Daily News about Wisconsin's 13-7 win over Great Lakes Naval Station at Chicago's Soldier Field in 1942. "His crazy legs were gyrating in six different directions all at the same time during a 61-yard touchdown run that solidified the win."

At Wisconsin, Hirsch starred as a running back, teaming with Pat Harder to help the Badgers flourish in the grind-it-out Big Ten. In 1942, Wisconsin sported a 8-1-1 record, good for second place in the Big Ten and third nationally in the final Associated Press poll. It was, however, Hirsch's only season with the Badgers. The U.S. Marines sent Hirsch to training program at the University of Michigan the following year, where he also earned All-America honors. At Michigan, he became the only Wolverine athlete to letter in four sports (football, basketball, track, and baseball).

He was the most valuable player in the 1946 College All-Star Game at Chicago's Soldier Field as he led the All-Stars to a 16-0 upset victory over the Rams in a game that annually pitted the top rookies against the defending NFL champions. (The game was discontinued in 1976).

Launches Pro Career

Hirsch was a running back for three seasons for the Chicago's AAFC entry, which changed owners annually and went 1-13 in 1948. Hirsch suffered a fractured skull and missed most of the 1948 season. Hirsch joined the Rams in 1950 and found the environment far different With Hall of Famers Norm Van Brocklin and Bob Waterfield alternating at quarterback, Hirsch and fellow wideouts Tom Fears and Bob Boyd challenged defenders game after game. Van Brocklin threw for 554 yards in one afternoon. "He was quick, elusive and deceptively fast, a deep-threat receiver who terrorized defensive backs for 12 pro seasons," the Sporting News wrote. "When Crazy Legs turned on the burners, somebody usually got scorched."

Wide-Open Offense

Rule changes helped open up pro football during this period and helped creative offensives such as the Rams's prosper. In 1950, the NFL restored unlimited free substitution, opening the way for two-platoon football and specialization. Hirsch changed his position from running back to wide receiver that year. The Rams, gaining in popularity in Los Angeles and perceived as one of the NFL's glamour teams, became the first NFL team to televise all its games, home and away.

Los Angeles competed in four NFL championship games within a seven-year span while Hirsch played, three against the Cleveland Browns. Ironically, the Rams's franchise originated in Cleveland (they are now in St. Louis). In 1951, with Hirsch averaging 22.7 yards during the regular season, the Rams atoned for a last-second 30-28 defeat in the previous year's NFL championship game in Cleveland by defeating the Browns 24-17 in Los Angeles. This was the first NFL game to be televised nationwide, and was the only championship in Los Angeles for the Rams, who had defeated the Chicago Bears 24-14 in a special Western Conference playoff game.

The Rams, who fell to the Philadelphia Eagles for the 1949 title game, also lost to the Browns in 1955. Hirsch retired in 1957, having hauled in 343 receptions over his nine NFL seasons. A movie, Crazylegs, was based on his life and career. Hirsch also starred in the 1955 movie Unchained, with Chester Morris and Todd Duncan, based on a true story about life on a Chino, California prison farm.

GM, Athletic Director

In 1960, Hirsch succeeded Alvin "Pete" Rozelle as Rams' general manager when the NFL named Rozelle commissioner following the death of Bert Bell . Hirsch named Waterfield head coach, but the team struggled on the field and fell to 1-12-1 in 1962. He eventually became special assistant to the president before leaving the organization, after 20 years, to succeed Ivy Williamson as University of Wisconsin athletic director.

Chronology

Awards and Accomplishments

He retired from Wisconsin in 1987 after serving the longest tenure ever for a Wisconsin AD. During that time, the men's ice hockey team won four of its five NCAA championships. Hirsch, however, drew fire for botching the search for a men's basketball coach in 1982. Several top candidates rejected Wisconsin, and according to the Milwaukee Sentinel, Hirsch was on a Caribbean cruise while appointee Ken Anderson was twice misidentified at a press conference. Days later, Anderson said he would stay at Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Hirsch's Legacy

Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch is retired and living in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to his pro football enshrinement, he was inducted into the University of Wisconsin Hall of Fame in 1991. A road race in his honor, the Crazylegs Classic, is held annually in Madison, Wisconsin. He has also been named to the State of Wisconsin, National Football Foundation and the Madison Pen and Mike Club-Bowman Sports Foundation Halls of Fame. He is an ardent booster of Badger sports.

Career Statistics

Hirsch, had he played today, would have been a "plays of the week" staple on sports highlight shows. But while he starred before television exposure of football because pervasive, the star appeal of Hirsch, and his Los Angeles Rams teammates of the 1950s, helped popularize the sport and usher in the TV era.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Other

Christl, Cliff. "Only Brewers, Bucks Find Some Success." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http:/www.jsonline.com/sports/century/dec99, (December 4, 1999).

Football Reference.com, Elroy Hirsch statistics, http://www.football-reference.com.players/HirsE100.htm, (January 17, 2003).

Pro Football Hall of Fame, http://www.profootballhof.com/players/enshrinees/ehirsch.efm, (January 18, 2003).

RamsUSA, http://www.ramsusa.com, (January 17, 2003).

Sporting News, http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/100/89/html, (January 17, 2003).

University of Wisconsin Web site, Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch profile, http://www.uwbasgers.com/history/hall_of_fame/1991/hirsch_elroy.aspx, (January 18, 2003).

Sketch by Paul Burton