Bernard Phillip Leahy (August 15, 1908 – March 12, 1978) 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 ...

halfback who played one season with 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 ...

of 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

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at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

Early life and college

Bernard Phillip Leahy was born on August 15, 1908, in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He attended St. Mel High School in Chicago. He did not play football until his third year of high school due to lack of weight. Leahy also played basketball in high school and helped St. Mel win the national Catholic basketball championship. Leahy then enrolled at the

. However, he did not initially join the football team and instead worked as a secretary at Notre Dame for two years to fund his education. He joined the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

football team in 1928 and was a three-year

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from 1929 to 1931. The Fighting Irish were named national champions by various selectors in both 1929 and 1930.

Professional career

In July 1932, it was reported that Leahy had signed with the

. He played in one game for the Bears that year, recording one carry for one yard. He joined the independent Chicago Shamrocks later in the 1932 season.

Personal life

Leahy died on March 12, 1978, in

Walnut Creek, California Walnut Creek is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about east of the city of Oakland, California, Oakland. Walnut Creek has a total population of 70,127 per t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leahy, Bernie 1908 births 1978 deaths Players of American football from Chicago American football halfbacks Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Chicago Bears players