Dan Fortmann
No. 21 | |||||||||||
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Position: | Guard Linebacker | ||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Born: | Pearl River, New York, U.S. | April 11, 1916||||||||||
Died: | May 23, 1995 Los Alamitos, California, U.S. | (aged 79)||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||
Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school: | Pearl River | ||||||||||
College: | Colgate (1933–1935) | ||||||||||
NFL draft: | 1936 / Round: 9 / Pick: 78 | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
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As a coach: | |||||||||||
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Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||||
Daniel John Fortmann (April 11, 1916 – May 23, 1995) was an American football guard and linebacker who played for the Chicago Bears in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colgate Red Raiders. Playing for Chicago from 1936 to 1943, he was selected as an All-Pro for seven consecutive years from 1937 to 1943. He was the Bears' team captain starting in 1940 and led the team to NFL championships in 1940, 1941, and 1943.
Fortmann was the line coach for the Pittsburgh Panthers football team in 1944 and in 1945 served in the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II. He engaged in a medical practice in Southern California from 1946 to 1984 and was the team physician for the Los Angeles Rams from 1947 to 1963. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1983.
Early years
Fortmann was born in 1916 in Pearl River, New York.[1] His father, Bernhard Gerhart Fortmann, was a New York native and salesman of butter and eggs. His mother, Emma Margaret Doscher, was also a New York native.[2]
Fortmann attended Pearl River High School, where he earned 12 varsity letters in sports and was the valedictorian of his class.[3][4]
Colgate
At age 16, Fortmann enrolled at
In addition to playing football, Fortmann was also an outstanding student at Colgate. He received straight A's as a pre-med student and graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors at age 19.[4] He was also president of his senior class and a member of the Delta Upsilon (DU) fraternity.[5]
Professional football
At age 19, Fortmann was selected by the Chicago Bears in the ninth and final round (78th overall pick) of the 1936 NFL draft.[6] After being drafted by the Bears, Fortmann was unsure whether he should attend medical school or play professional football. Bears owner George Halas persuaded Fortmann that he could do both and advanced funds to Fortmann for medical school.[5][7] After speaking with Halas, Fortmann signed with the Bears in May 1936. At the time, he was the youngest person ever signed by an NFL team.[5]
Due to his medical school obligations, Fortmann missed most of the Bears' sessions in his first four years with the team.[4] In 1941, during his medical internship, he described pro football as "just the means to an end", the end being practicing medicine as a surgeon.[8] Yet, Fortmann became fiercely loyal to Halas, saying: "Halas is the salt of the earth. There is nobody I admire and respect more than him."[9]
Fortmann remained with the Bears for his entire professional football career, lasting for eight years from 1936 to 1943. He appeared in 86 games for the Bears. By 1939, Fortmann had established himself as one of the best most valuable players in the NFL. In voting by NFL coaches for the 1939 All-Pro Team, Fortmann received 37 points, the second-highest individual vote of any player.[10]
Fortmann was team captain of the Bears starting in 1940. As team captain, he led the Bears to back-to-back NFL championships in 1940 and 1941 with records of 8–3 and 10–1. After the 1940 season, Fortmann was rated as the best lineman in the NFL. The
In the
In August 1942, quarterback
Fortmann announced his retirement from the NFL in January 1943,[13] but was persuaded to return for the 1943 season. He continued to practice medicine at Pittsburgh's Presbyterian Hospital during the 1943 season, flying in on Saturdays to play with the Bears on Sundays.[14][15] The 1943 Bears compiled an 8–1–1 record and defeated the Washington Redskins in the 1943 NFL Championship Game, which proved to be Fortmann's last game as an NFL player. He announced his retirement five days after the championship game.[16]
Honors and awards
Fortmann received numerous honors and awards during and after his football career, including the following:
- Fortmann received All-Pro honors during each of his eight years in the NFL. He received second-team honors as a rookie in 1936 and first-team honors in 1937 (New York Daily News), 1938 (NFL, UP, Collyer's Eye, Pro Football Writers, INS), 1939 (NFL, UP, Collyer's Eye, Pro Football Writers, INS, New York Daily News), 1940 (AP, UP, NFL, Collyer's Eye, INS, New York Daily News), 1941 (AP, UP, NFL, Collyer's Eye, New York Daily News), 1942 (AP, NFL, INS, New York Daily News), and 1943 (AP, UP, Pro Football Illustrated, New York Daily News).[1]
- In 1965, Fortmann was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the Hall's third class of inductees.[9] His Hall of Fame biography states: "On offense, he called signals for the linemen and was a battering-ram blocker. On defense, he was a genius at diagnosing enemy plays and a deadly tackler."[17]
- In 1969, Fortmann was named to the NFL 1930s All-Decade Team.[18]
- In 1978, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.[19]
- In 1986, he received the NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award.[20]
- In 2019, Fortmann was named to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team
Later years and family
Fortmann was married to Mary Van Halteren in a ceremony at East Lansing, Michigan, on March 19, 1938.[21][22] They had two sons, Thomas and Stephen.[3]
Fortmann enrolled at
In the fall of 1944, he served as the line coach for the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football team.[23]
In February 1945, Fortmann was commissioned as a lieutenant in the
In 1946, Fortmann was licensed to practice medicine in California and began practicing on Hollywood Boulevard in
Fortmann was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1983 and, in 1988, began living at the John Douglas French Center, a facility in Los Alamitos, California, specializing in the care of Alzheimer's patients. He died at French Center in May 1995 at age 79.[28][3]
References
- ^ a b "Danny Fortmann Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 9, 2017.
- ^ Census entry for Bernhard Fortmann and family. Son Daniel, born in New York, age 4-1/2. Census Place: Orangetown, Rockland, New York; Roll: T625_1258; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 219; Image: 922. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line].
- ^
- ^
- ^
- ^ "1936 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
- ^ Stanley Grosshandler (1970). "Pro Football's Doctor Alumni" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Pro Football Researchers. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 28, 2012.
- ^
- ^
- ^ "Dan Fortmann Bio". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
- ^ "Danny Fortmann Member Biography". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved April 9, 2017.
- ^ "NFL Alumni surprise Cosell with honor". News/Sun Sentinel. March 22, 1986. p. 10C.
- ^ Marriage License issued to Daniel J. Fortmann and Mary A. Van Halteren. Ancestry.com. Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952 [database on-line].
- ^
- ^ Daniel John Fortmann licensed in September 1946. California State Archives; Sacramento, California; Board of Medical Examiners Record of Applications, 1939-1953. Source Information: Ancestry.com.
- ^ California State Archives; Sacramento, California; Directory, 1950. Source Information: Ancestry.com. California, Occupational Licenses, Registers, and Directories, 1876-1969 [database on-line].
- ^ California, Occupational Licenses, Registers, and Directories, 1876-1969 [database on-line].
- ^
External links
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: Member - Dan Fortmann