Alyn Richard Beals (April 27, 1921 – August 11, 1993) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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who played in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a major professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many ...

(AAFC) and the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played six seasons for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

from 1946 through 1951.

Early life

Beals grew up in San Francisco, California and was raised by his mother, who divorced his father when Beals was three years old. He excelled at

San Francisco Polytechnic High School San Francisco Polytechnic High School was a public secondary school in San Francisco, California. Located from 1912 at 701 Frederick Street, across from Kezar Stadium, the school was in operation from 1884 until 1973. History The school opened ...

in football (right near

Kezar Stadium Kezar Stadium () is an outdoor athletics stadium in San Francisco, California, United States, located adjacent to Kezar Pavilion in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park. It serves as the home of San Francisco City FC of USL League Two ...

, which led to a scholarship from Santa Clara University after he picked them over the University of California. Beals was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1942, but Beals elected to serve in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, where he later became a Field Artillery Battery Commander. Beals scored 46 touchdowns in four seasons with the team (1939 to 1943) and he was inducted into the university's Hall of Fame in 1964.

Football career

Beals was given a letter by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

to gauge his interest in playing for them in his senior season in 1942, but he served in

instead. He did ROTC at Santa Clara, and later served as a Field Artillery Battery Commander, seeing action at

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

and also serving as security during the

Nuremberg trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

. When the war ended, he was recruited to play for the newly formed

of the

(AAFC) and play for

Buck Shaw Lawrence Timothy "Buck" Shaw (March 28, 1899 – March 19, 1977) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach for Santa Clara University, the University of California, Berkeley, the San Francisco 49ers, the United States Air F ...

, his former coach at Santa Clara, bolstered by a $4,500 contract that dwarfed his $275 a month when in the Army. Beals led the AAFC in receiving touchdowns all four years of the league's existence and in 1949 he was the AAFC leader in overall touchdowns (12) and points scored (73). His 14 receiving touchdowns in 1948 was a club record for nearly four decades. When the AAFC folded at the end of the 1949 season, he was the league's all-time scoring leader with 278 points. When Beals retired with 49 touchdowns as a receiver, he was 3rd all-time in pro football history. His 211 receptions were sixth all-time at the time of retirement. The dawn of a heightened passing game in the half century since his retirement has meant that he ranks in the top 140 in touchdowns as of .

NFL/AAFC career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beals, Alyn 1921 births 1993 deaths Sportspeople from Marysville, California Players of American football from Yuba County, California American football ends San Francisco 49ers (AAFC) players San Francisco 49ers players Santa Clara Broncos football players