Robert Ross Lurtsema (born March 29, 1942) is a former

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

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 ...

in 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 ...

for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

and

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

. He played in two

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

s with the Vikings. Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Lurtsema attended Ottawa Hills High School and initially went to

Michigan Tech Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Uppe ...

in 1962 on a basketball scholarship, but started playing football and lettered in the sport as a Huskie in the 1962 season. Lurtsema transferred to

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

to continue his collegiate career, lettering in football as a Bronco in 1965. Undrafted after graduating, Lurtsema played for the 1966 Harrisburg Capitals of the

Atlantic Coast Football League The Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) was a professional American football Minor league football (gridiron), minor league that operated from 1962 to 1973. Until 1969, many of its franchises had working agreements with National Football Leagu ...

, which was a taxi squad affiliated with the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...

Don Shula Donald Francis Shula ( ; January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American professional American football, football player, coach and executive who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. He played seven s ...

, Colts coach, had drafted

Bubba Smith Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith (February 28, 1945 – August 3, 2011) was an American professional football defensive end and actor. Smith played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders, and Houston Oilers. ...

in 1967, blocking an opportunity for Lurtsema. Shula arranged a trade to the

. Lurtsema said of Shula, "I owe everything to Shula. He basically set up my whole career. I can’t say enough good things about him.” Lurtsema played with the

for 1967, making the all-rookie team in 1967 and the

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

All-Star team in 1968. He became a regular starter for the Giants through the 1971 season, changing positions in 1970 from defensive tackle to defensive end, but the Giants waived him at the end of the 1971 season. The

signed Lurtsema in 1972. In the third game of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

1972 NFL season, the Dolphins appeared to be on the way to losing a game against the Vikings. Lurtsema was flagged for roughing the passer in a pivotal play in the game, and for the Dolphins' season, as they ended up undefeated. Lurtsema played regularly for the Vikings and back up the famed Purple People Eaters defensive line, but he rarely started, earning the affectionate nickname "Benchwarmer Bob." Lurtsema played for the Vikings in

Super Bowl VIII Super Bowl VIII was an American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular Ameri ...

in 1974 and

Super Bowl IX Super Bowl IX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1974 Minnesota Vikings season, Mi ...

in 1975, both losing causes. The Vikings traded Lurtsema to the

, an expansion team in their first season in 1976 in a deal for wide receiver

Ahmad Rashad Ahmad Rashad ( ; born Robert Earl Moore; November 19, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former professional football wide receiver. He was the fourth overall selection of the 1972 NFL draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was known ...

. Lurtsema played two seasons in Seattle, starting regularly at defensive end. He retired after the 1977 NFL season with 82 career starts. After retirement, Lurtsema often appeared as "Benchwarmer Bob" in television commercials for

TCF Financial Corporation TCF Financial Corporation, an acronym for Twin City Federal, was a bank holding company based in Detroit, Michigan. Its operating subsidiary, TCF Bank, operated 478 branches in Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin, Ohio, and South ...

. Lurtsema pitched for the

Minnesota Norsemen The Minnesota Norsemen were a professional softball team that played in the American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL) during the 1978 and 1979 seasons. The team had played as the Minnesota Goofy's in the 1977 season, changing names for 1978. ...

professional softball team during their 1979 season in the American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL). He also owned Benchwarmer Bob's Sports Cafe, which had two locations in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

. In 1990, Lurtsema wrestled a match for

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...

's AWA Twin Wars teaming with Brad Rheingans and

The Trooper "The Trooper" is a song by the English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released as the second single on 20 June 1983 from the band's fourth studio album, ''Piece of Mind'' (1983). It was one of only a few Iron Maiden songs to ac ...

defeating

Tully Blanchard Tully Arthur Blanchard (born January 22, 1954) is a Canadian-American professional wrestler and manager. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation in the mid-to-late 1980s as a member of ...

and the Destruction Crew. In 2013, Lurtsema signed on to support the lawsuit brought against the NFL in regard to concussions in the sport. He advocated for the funds to be used for players impacted by injuries and for research into brain injuries. Lurtsema and his wife Aloise are retired and live in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

References

External links

Career Statistics at NFL.com

Bob Lurtsema - Selected TCF Commercials

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lurtsema, Bob 1942 births American football defensive linemen Living people Michigan Tech Huskies football players Minnesota Vikings players New York Giants players Players of American football from Grand Rapids, Michigan Seattle Seahawks players Western Michigan Broncos football players