Marion Earl Probert (June 17, 1933 – November 27, 1965) was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

and surgeon. He played for the

BYU Cougars The BYU Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. BYU fields 21 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity athletic teams. They are a member of the Big 12 C ...

from 1951 to 1955. On November 27, 1965, Probert and twelve others were killed in a plane crash while en route to a BYU football game.

Early life

Probert was born in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...

on June 17, 1933. He attended Inglewood High School in California where he found success playing football. During each of his three years playing for Inglewood, he was named to the All-Bay League, and during his senior year he was named as a high school

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

College career

Probert received offers from multiple schools, including

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

and

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, but ultimately chose to attend BYU after a conversation with Latter-day Saint apostle,

Matthew Cowley Matthew Cowley (August 2, 1897 – December 13, 1953) was an American missionary in New Zealand and then served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1945 until his ...

. At BYU, Probert became the first athlete to

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during all four years of attending the school. He was named to the All-Conference team for three years and received an honorable mention for All-American during his senior year. In addition to his success in football, Probert was BYU's student body president and division commander of the local

Air Force ROTC The Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps (AFROTC) is one of the three primary commissioning sources for officers in the United States Air Force and United States Space Force, the other two being the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA ...

Later life and death

After graduating from BYU, Probert received offers to play football professionally, but he chose instead to pursue a career in medicine. He earned a medical degree from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and returned to Utah where he worked at Cottonwood LDS Hospital. On November 27, 1965, Probert and twelve others were killed when their

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

crashed onto a hill near

Camp Williams Camp W. G. Williams, commonly known as Camp Williams, also known as Army Garrison Camp Williams, is a National Guard training site operated by the Utah National Guard. It is located south of Bluffdale, west of Lehi, and north of Saratoga Sp ...

. Probert was among eight passengers who had chartered the flight to

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

to attend the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

championship game between BYU and the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

. After hearing news about the crash, the BYU football team dedicated the game to the victims, and BYU won the game 42–8. In 1977, BYU retired Probert's jersey number and inducted him into the BYU Athletic Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Probert, Marion 1933 births 1965 deaths American football defensive ends Players of American football from Provo, Utah BYU Cougars football players Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1965 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States