John Robert McNamara (August 12, 1931 – July 20, 2014) was an American football all-star

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

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(CFL) and the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL). A star with the collegiate Minnesota Gophers, their team MVP in 1954, McNamara was drafted by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. Instead, he turned directly north and signed with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

. However, the promise he showed was unfulfilled, as his career was beset with injury. In 1955, he rushed for only 51 yards. 1956 is when he showed his true form, rushing for 1101 yards, catching 36 passes for another 512 yards, scoring 17 touchdowns, and intercepting two passes. He was chosen as an all-star. Injuries returned and in 1957 he rushed for 90 yards with one touchdown on an interception return. In 1958, he did manage 236 rushing yards and 248 receiving yards, on 18 catches, but he had become a liability to the Bombers with his no cut contract, and he wasn't in the line up for the last half of the season and did not play in their

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victory. The Bombers then waived him out of the league, but he still holds an amazing

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

record: he scored 6 touchdowns at the

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on October 13, 1956. McNamara next played with the inaugural

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

of the new

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. In two seasons as a receiver and cornerback he caught 7 passes for 143 yards and intercepted 7 passes. He later tried out with 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 ...

.McNamara Joins Minnesota Club

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, March 28, 1962 In his later years, Bob McNamara was a tireless booster for Minnesota Gophers sports and an instrumental supporter for the school's

TCF Bank Stadium Huntington Bank Stadium (formerly known as TCF Bank Stadium) is an outdoor stadium located on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The stadium opened in 2009 after three years of construction. It is ...

, which opened in 2009 and brought outdoor football back to campus. He died while undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer, on July 20, 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Bob 1931 births 2014 deaths Winnipeg Blue Bombers players American football running backs Canadian football running backs Denver Broncos (AFL) players Minnesota Golden Gophers football players People from Hastings, Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota Sportspeople from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area