Robert John Bjorklund (June 12, 1918 – January 27, 1994) 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 one season with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

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 was selected by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

in the 20th round of the

1941 NFL draft The 1941 NFL draft was held on December 10, 1940, at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Bears selected halfback Tom Harmon. The Bears selected 24 players, but forfeited their final fou ...

after playing

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 ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Early life and college

Robert John Bjorklund was born on June 12, 1918, in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. He attended

North Community High School North Community High School, or simply North, is a four-year public comprehensive high school located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school has existed for over 120 years in several buildings all located on the city's northside. Minneapolis Nort ...

. He was a member of the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

of the

from 1937 to 1940, and a three-year

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from 1938 to 1940. 1940 Golden Gophers were AP Poll national champions.

Professional career

Bjorklund was selected by the

in the 20th round, with the 182nd overall pick, of the

. He signed with the

later in 1941. He played in seven games for the Eagles during the 1942 season. He became a free agent after the season. Bjorklund served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

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 ...

. He was a member of the 1944 Camp Peary Pirates football team.

Post-playing career

Bjorklund was the head coach of the 1943 Fort Douglas GIs football team. He died on January 27, 1994, in

Hopkins, Minnesota Hopkins is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, located west of Minneapolis. The population was 19,079 at the 2020 census. The city is four square miles in size and is surrounded by the larger suburban communities of ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorklund, Bob 1918 births 1994 deaths American football centers American football linebackers Camp Peary Pirates football players Fort Douglas GIs football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Philadelphia Eagles players North Community High School alumni Coaches of American football from Minnesota Players of American football from Minneapolis United States Army personnel of World War II