Clyde Earl Shugart (December 7, 1916 – July 2, 2009) 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 American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

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 ...

(NFL) 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. He played

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 ...

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

and was drafted in the seventeenth round of the

1939 NFL draft The 1939 NFL draft was held on December 9, 1938, at the New Yorker Hotel in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Cardinals selected center Ki Aldrich. Player selections Round one ...

Early life

Shugart was born in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Ames ha ...

, and attended

Ames High School Ames High School is the sole state school, public high school in Ames, Iowa, Ames, Iowa, United States. It is in the Ames Community School District. Academics This school is the only public high school in the city of Ames. In August 2019, A ...

. During his

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

career, he earned first-team all-state honors and was named as "the finest prep lineman in the state" by the

Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...

College career

Shugart then attended and played

, where he was a member of one of Iowa State's best football teams in school history. During his senior season, he played

right tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

with

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n guard Ed Bock on the 1938 "Cyclone Eleven" squad that produced a 7-1-1 record for coach Jim Yeager. Shugart earned all-

Big Six Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associati ...

honors and received All-America board recognition, playing all but 20 minutes of the entire season. In a 1960s poll, Shugart was named the best tackle in school history.

Professional career

Shugart was drafted in the fifteenth round of the

by the

. In 1939, the Redskins finished 8-2-1 and fell short of the Eastern Division championship. During the 1940 season, the Redskins posted a then-franchise-record nine wins and earned a trip to the

1940 NFL Championship game The 1940 NFL Championship Game, sometimes referred to simply as 73–0, was the eighth title game of the National Football League (NFL). It was played at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., on December 8, with a sellout capacity attendance ...

, where they lost to 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 ...

, 73-0, the most one-sided victory in NFL history. The Redskins then beat the Bears in the

1942 NFL Championship game The 1942 NFL Championship Game was the tenth title game of the National Football League (NFL), played at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., on December 13, with a sellout capacity attendance of 36,006. It matched the undefeated Western Divi ...

, 14-6, before a sellout crowd of 36,000 at

Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium stood in Washington, D.C., from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street (left field), and between W Street and Florida Avenue NW. The site was once home to a wooden baseball park. Built in 1891, it was called Bounda ...

. The following season, the Redskins went 6-3-1 and again met the Bears in the

1943 NFL Championship game The 1943 NFL Championship Game was the 11th annual title game of the National Football League (NFL), held at Wrigley Field in Chicago on December 26 with an attendance of 34,320. In a rematch of the previous year's game, the Western Division ...

, where they lost 41–21. Shugart retired after the 1944 season after making a salary of $4,400. Shugart played his entire career for the Redskins (1939–1944) and never missed a game in his career. During this time, he was named to two

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

s (1941, 1942) and was named second-team

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

in 1943.

Life after football

After retiring from football, Shugart took a job as a manager of a High's Ice Cream branch plant in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

. He worked at High's for 47 years before retiring in 1986, and at one point owned 50 percent of the corporate stock. In 2007, he moved to

Gulf Breeze, Florida Gulf Breeze is a city in Santa Rosa County, Florida. It is located between Downtown Pensacola and Pensacola Beach, and is part of the Pensacola Metropolitan Area. The population was 6,340 at the 2020 census, up from 5,763 at the 2010 census ...

, where he died from a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

on July 2, 2009, at age 92.

Legacy

In 2000, Shugart was inducted in the Iowa High School Football Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2004, he was inducted into the Iowa State Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shugart, Clyde 1916 births 2009 deaths People from Tama County, Iowa Players of American football from Iowa American football offensive guards Iowa State Cyclones football players Washington Redskins players Sportspeople from Ames, Iowa