Bert Aldon Zagers (January 30, 1933 – September 2, 1992) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player who played halfback and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL).

Early life

Zagers was born in

Fremont, Michigan Fremont is a city in Newaygo County, Michigan, United States. The population was 4,516 at the time of the 2020 census. History The first inhabitants of the Fremont area were Native Americans. A group of settlers led by Daniel Weaver first se ...

to Evert and Opal Lee Zagers. He attended and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

Cadillac High School Cadillac High School (also referred to as Cadillac Senior High School) is a high school in Cadillac, Michigan, United States. It is one of eight schools in the Cadillac Area Public Schools (CAPS) school district. History Clam Lake Public Scho ...

in Cadillac, Michigan, where he won a state championship in 1949. He also participated in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

. Zagers was inducted into the Cadillac High School Hall of Fame in 1951.

College career

Zagers attended and played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. In 1952, the

Spartans Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...

completed a perfect undefeated season and were recognized as the national champions by most major polling organizations including the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

and

Coaches' Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

Professional career

Zagers was drafted in the seventh round of the

1955 NFL Draft The 1955 NFL season, 1955 National Football League NFL draft, draft was held January 27–28, 1955 at the Warwick New York Hotel, Warwick Hotel in New York City. This was the ninth year that the List of first overall National Football League Dra ...

by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. He was then traded to the

, along with Bob Trout, for

Harry Gilmer Harry Vincent Gilmer Jr. (April 14, 1926 – August 20, 2016) was an American football halfback and quarterback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of F ...

. Zagers played his entire career with the Redskins and in 1957, he led the NFL in punt returns.

Personal life

Zagers fought with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, where he attained the rank of

private first class Private first class (french: Soldat de 1 classe; es, Soldado de primera) is a military rank held by junior enlisted personnel in a number of armed forces. French speaking countries In France and other French speaking countries, the rank (; ) ...

. After retiring from playing, he was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

at Theodore Roosevelt High School in

Wyandotte, Michigan Wyandotte ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census. Wyandotte is located in southeastern Michigan, approximately south of Detroit on the Detroit River, and it is part of the coll ...

in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He died on September 2, 1992, in

Traverse City, Michigan Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zagers, Bert 1933 births 1992 deaths American football defensive backs American football halfbacks Michigan State Spartans football players Washington Redskins players High school football coaches in Michigan United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army soldiers Players of American football from Michigan People from Fremont, Michigan