Ferdinand "Ferd" Adolphus Dreher (February 23, 1913 – December 28, 1996) 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 ...

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

who played one season with 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 ...

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 Bears in the twelfth round of the

1938 NFL draft The 1938 NFL draft was held on December 12, 1937, at the Sherman House Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The draft consisted of 12 rounds and 110 player selections. It began with the Cleveland Rams using the first overall pick of the draft to selec ...

. 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 ...

at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

Early life

Dreher attended Jonesboro High School in

Jonesboro, Arkansas Jonesboro () is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County, Arkansas, Craighead County. In 2023, the city had an estimated population of ...

College career

Dreher lettered in football for the

Denver Pioneers The Denver Pioneers are the sports teams of the University of Denver (DU). They play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, and have amassed 35 NCAA titles as of 2024, which is in the top 15 among all schools (24 in S ...

from 1936 to 1937, earning two first-team all-conference awards. He recorded a team-high 30 points in 1936 and a second-best 35 points in 1937. He played basketball for the Pioneers from 1937 to 1938, helping the 1937 team to a 14–6 record while earning All-

Rocky Mountain Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...

honorable mention honors and also garnering third-team All-

Skyline Conference The Skyline Conference is an List of NCAA conferences, intercollegiate athletic conference based in the New York City area that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division III, Division III. The league was orig ...

accolades in 1938. Dreher also participated in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, winning the conference championships in the discus and

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

in 1937 and 1938. He played baseball in 1937. He earned seven letters as a Pioneer, two each in football, basketball and track while also earning one in baseball. Dreher was named the University of Denver Athlete of the Decade for the 1930s in May 1966. He was inducted into the University of Denver Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.

Professional career

Dreher was selected by the

of the NFL with the 110th (and

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

) pick in the

. He played in three games for the Bears during the 1938 season, recording 69 yards and one touchdown on three receptions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreher, Ferd 1913 births 1996 deaths American football ends American male discus throwers American male shot putters American men's basketball players Chicago Bears players Denver Pioneers baseball players Denver Pioneers football players Denver Pioneers men's basketball players Sportspeople from Arkansas People from Craighead County, Arkansas People from Jonesboro, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas 20th-century American sportsmen