Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Who keeps the honor roll of players who served during World War II? And what are the qualifications?

(If their career ended before the war or started after the war, do they qualify?)

(If they played professionally, but not in the NFL, do they qualify?)

(Must they have served in the United States military? Or any military?)

This is from the Pro Football Hall of Fame's website:


https://www.profootballhof.com/connect/ ... onor-roll/

I think one of the interesting things about this conversation are the different categories of players, referred to in the introduction of the topic. For example, many faught in the war and then came back and went to college, then went on to play as a pro. Others came directly back and went to play as a pro. Others going earlier played as a pro, went to fight, and either came back to play or that was the end of their playing career. Very interesting those categories. But there were a slew of players who's rookie seasons were at some older men than was typical previously.like Gino Marchetti and the like. I guess the final category, and probably the saddest, are floats like Al Blozis, thankfully that's a shorter list.

RyanChristiansen wrote:Who keeps the honor roll of players who served during World War II? And what are the qualifications?

(If their career ended before the war or started after the war, do they qualify?)

(If they played professionally, but not in the NFL, do they qualify?)

(Must they have served in the United States military? Or any military?)

Ryan - Are you referring to lists in the member section of the PRFA site?

If so, I do see players whose NFL playing career ended before the war who are listed there. On quick check, Eddie Kahn (G, Washington, 1936-37), Lee Kizzire, FB, Detroit, 1937, Jim Mooney, E-G-FB, Newark-Brooklyn-Cincinnati-St. Louis-Cardinals, 1930-1937 are among them.

Of related interest is the 1991 book by Jim Koger titled Upon Other Fields on Other Days. The book gives capsule summaries of some 2,300 collegiate players who were reported as KIA, POW, or MIA. It covers the period from the Spanish-American War through 1983 (when Marines were lost in the Beirut terror bombing). Of course, some of those names listed in Koger's book also played pro ball.

You can pick up a used copy for 5-6 bucks (including shipping) on Amazon and AbeBooks.

Bob Carroll reviewed the book in the Vol. 14, No. 1 (1992) issue of CC. He admitted that reading page after page of young lives cut short was numbingly depressing, but he also lauded Koger's work in keeping the young men's memories alive.