Pete Retzlaff

Retzlaff was born on August 21, 1931, in Ellendale, North Dakota.^[1] He starred on the football and track teams at Ellendale High School.^[2] He attended the North Dakota State Normal and Industrial School in Ellendale, before transferring to South Dakota State College (now South Dakota State University, SDSU).^[3]

In 1950, he entered SDSU, where he starred in track and field and football for two years, setting 16 school records in the 1951–52 and 1952-53 seasons.^[4]

In both football seasons he was selected to the All-North Central Conference (NCC) team. In 1951, as a fullback, he rushed for 1,016 yards, a school record,^[4] and in 1952 was named a Little All-American.^[5] Ironically, he never had a pass reception in his two years of football, the very skill that would make him a professional football star.^[4]

In 1953, he set school, NCC and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) records in both shot put and discus. He was two-time NAIA national champion in shot put and in discus. In 1953, Retzlaff also won first place in shot put, discus, and high jump at the NCC Championships, and placed fourth in javelin. In the same year, he led SDSU to a national team title in track.^[4]

At SDSU, he made “Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities”, was a member the Senior Men's Honorary Society, and was vice president of the senior class.^[4]

In 1959, Ellendale held a Pete Retzlaff Day.^[2] In 1972, he was inducted into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame.^[6] In 1974, he was honored with a gold star on Ellendale's Walk of Fame.^[5] In the same year, he received the SDSU Distinguished Alumnus Award.^[5] In 1977, he was inducted into the SDSU Sports Hall of Fame.^[4][7]

Retzlaff was selected in the 1953 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), but he did not make the team.^[8] After two years in the U.S. Army^[5] his contract was sold to the Philadelphia Eagles, and he was signed for $100.^[8] He played flanker and tight end for 11 seasons with the Eagles, having converted from fullback.^[9]

In 1958, Norm Van Brocklin, acquired from the Los Angeles Rams, suggested that Retzlaff should play split end, noting that he ran patterns like his favorite receiver at Los Angeles in Elroy Hirsch.^[8] That year, despite having never caught a pass in college, he tied Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Raymond Berry for the league lead with 56 pass receptions.^[8][10][11] Fellow Eagles' Hall of Fame linebacker Maxie Baughan^[12] observed that Retzlaff was one of the first tight ends to be a receiver as well as a blocker. This changed football strategy as defenses now had provide for covering tight ends as another capable receiver on the field. Hall of Fame Dallas Cowboys' safety Mel Renfro found it difficult to cover Retzlaff because he was a great route runner.^[8][9]

Retzlaff was a co-captain on the 1960 Eagles team that won the NFL championship.^[9] Retzlaff led the team with 46 receptions, averaging 18 yards per catch.^[8] In 1965, Retzlaff had 66 receptions for 1,190 yards and 10 touchdowns, winning the Bert Bell Award for NFL player of the year in 1965.^[13][8] He played the entire season with an injury to his heels, saying he ended up with "21 holes" while using Novocain on gameday, and not practicing prior to the game.^[8]

Retzlaff had 452 catches for 7,412 yards in his 11-year Eagle career.^[9] He averaged 16.4 yards per catch and lost only four fumbles in his career.^[8] He was the seventh receiver with 450 catches in history.^[14][15] He went to the Pro Bowl five times.^[9] In 1965, he was named first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI) and Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), and second-team All-Pro by them in 1963 and 1965. The Sporting News named Retzlaff first-team All-Conference in 1958 and 1963-1965.^[1]

He was nicknamed "the Baron" by former teammate Tom Brookshier, and "Pistol Pete" by Bill Campbell,^[16] a legendary Philadelphia sportscaster who called the Eagles games.^[17]

He was one of the early leaders in forming the NFL Players Association (NFLPA),^[8] and became its president.^[18] In the late 1950s, Retzlaff, Van Brocklin and Kyle Rote led the Players Association in working with NFL Commissioner Bert Bell in beginning a player pension fund.^[19]

In 1989, he was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame.^[9] In 2005, he was named to the Professional Football Researchers Association Hall of Very Good in the association's third HOVG class.^[20]

After retiring from football, he worked as a sportscaster on a local Philadelphia CBS affiliate, WCAU.^[18] From 1969 to 1972, he was the Eagles' vice president and general manager.^[17] He drafted Harold Carmichael in 1971, who later passed him for catches and yards by an Eagle player.^[17][21] In 1973 and 1974, he worked as a color analyst for CBS doing NFL coverage.^[5]