Hugh Gallarneau
 Gallarneau in 1942 | |||||||||||||
| No. 8 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Halfback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | April 2, 1917 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Died | July 14, 1999 (aged 82) Northbrook, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Morgan Park (Chicago, Illinois) | ||||||||||||
| College | Stanford | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1941: 3rd round, 23rd overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Hugh Harold "Duke" Gallarneau (April 2, 1917 – July 14, 1999) was an American professional player who was a halfback in the National Football League (NFL) from 1941 to 1942 and 1945 to 1947 for the Chicago Bears. He played college football at Stanford, where he was an All-American.
College career
[edit]Gallarneau attended Morgan Park High School in Chicago, Illinois, but did not play high school football, opting instead for swimming, track, and baseball.[1] After high school, he was accepted to Stanford University on an academic scholarship, and decided to try out for the football team for the 1938 season and made the team.[1]
In 1938, Stanford's team was 3–6, and the next year, fell to 1–7–1. The next year, 1940, new head football coach Clark Shaughnessy introduced the T formation, and the Indians were transformed in a winner. Gallarneau, as part of a backfield including future NFL players quarterback Frankie Albert, halfback Pete Kmetovic, and fullback Norm Standlee, were the core of a team known as the Wow Boys, which went undefeated and beat Nebraska 21–13 in the 1941 Rose Bowl. In that game, Gallarneau scored two of Stanford's touchdowns, on a 10-yard run and a 40-yard pass reception.
Gallarneau was named an All-American in football, was on Stanford's rugby team, and won the Pacific Coast Conference heavyweight boxing title.[1]
NFL career
[edit]In the 1941 NFL draft, Gallarneau was selected in the third round by the Chicago Bears.[2] He played for the Bears for the 1941 and 1942 seasons. Gallarneau still holds the Bears' record for the longest punt return in a postseason game, returning a punt 81 yards for a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers in the divisional playoffs to help lead the Bears to the 1941 NFL Championship game.[3] The return also remains the third-longest in NFL postseason history.[4]
World War II
[edit]In 1943, Gallarneau joined the Marine Corps to fight in World War II. He was trained as a night fighter director and fought in the Pacific Theater, rising to the rank of major.[1] During the Battle of Okinawa and he was a member of Air Warning Squadron 8 attached to a SCR-527 radar detachment located near Yontan Airifeld.[5] On May 18, Gallarneau was working with 1stLt Robert Wellwood from VMF(N)-533, callsign "Scrapper 17." That evening Gallarneau and Wellwood collaborated to shoot down three Japanese Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers.[6] Gallarneau was awarded the Bronze Star for his efforts in assisting with the downing of six Japanese aircraft during the Battle of Okinawa.[7] He returned to the Bears for the 1945 season, and played three more seasons before retiring in 1947.[1]
NFL career statistics
[edit]| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won the NFL Championship | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
[edit]| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1941 | CHI | 11 | 8 | 49 | 304 | 6.2 | 40 | 8 | 11 | 204 | 18.5 | 46 | 2 |
| 1942 | CHI | 10 | 9 | 68 | 292 | 4.3 | 20 | 4 | 14 | 291 | 20.8 | 60 | 3 |
| 1945 | CHI | 8 | 7 | 75 | 260 | 3.5 | 31 | 2 | 7 | 58 | 8.3 | 36 | 1 |
| 1946 | CHI | 11 | 5 | 112 | 476 | 4.3 | 52 | 6 | 12 | 185 | 15.4 | 36 | 1 |
| 1947 | CHI | 12 | 4 | 39 | 89 | 2.3 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 56 | 8.0 | 28 | 0 |
| 52 | 33 | 343 | 1,421 | 4.1 | 52 | 26 | 51 | 794 | 15.6 | 60 | 7 | ||
Playoffs
[edit]| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1941 | CHI | 2 | 2 | 10 | 17 | 1.7 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1942 | CHI | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 9 | 0 | 1 | -9 | -9.0 | -9 | 0 |
| 1946 | CHI | 1 | 1 | 6 | 24 | 4.0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | 18 | 50 | 2.8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | -9 | -9.0 | -9 | 0 | ||
After football
[edit]After leaving football, Gallarneau remained in Chicago, working for Marshall Field's and Hart, Schaffner & Marx, where he retired as a vice president in 1985.[1] He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1982 and is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. He died in Northfield, Illinois, in 1999.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f College Football Hall of Fame profile
- ^ "1941 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ "Chicago Bears individual postseason records" (PDF). ChicagoBears.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2007. Retrieved June 18, 2007.
- ^ "NFL Playoff Records". National Football League. Archived from the original on April 2, 2007. Retrieved June 18, 2007.
- ^ DeChant 1947, pp. 234.
- ^ Martin, Harold H. (November 10, 1945). "The Crystal Gazers and the Night Chicks". Liberty Magazine. New York City: Paul Hunter.
- ^ Gunn, John (1999). "Hugh Gallarneau" (PDF). The Coffin Corner. 21 (6): 1–2. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
Bibliography
[edit]- DeChant, John A. (1947). Devilbirds – The Story of United States Marine Aviation in World War II. New York: Harper & Brothers.
External links
[edit]- Career statistics from NFL.com · Pro Football Reference