Frank Hembre Nunley (October 1, 1945 – June 26, 2024),

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

d "Fudge Hammer", 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

who played for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

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 ...

from 1967 to 1976. 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 Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1964 to 1966.

Early life

Nunley was born in Lexington, Alabama, in 1945, and attended Belleville High School in

Belleville, Michigan Belleville is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western suburb of Detroit, Belleville is located roughly southwest of downtown Detroit, and southeast of Ann Arbor, and is completely surrounded by Van Buren Township. A ...

. He was known as”Tink” by his classmates, and was the football team’s fullback.

College career

Nunley played

for the

from 1964 to 1966. He was selected by the

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as a first-team

on its

1966 All-Big Ten Conference football team The 1966 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Ten Conference teams for the 1966 Big Ten Conference football season. Players from the 1966 Michigan State Spartans fo ...

. He was inducted into the

University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor The University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan#Athletics, University of Michigan sportsperson, athletes, Coach (sports), coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to t ...

in 1989.

Professional career

Nunley was selected by the

in the third round (62nd overall pick) of the

1967 NFL/AFL draft The 1967 NFL/AFL draft was conducted March 14–15, 1967, at the Gotham Hotel in New York City. It was the first common draft between the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL), part of the AFL–NFL merger agreeme ...

. He remained with the 49ers for 10 seasons from 1967 to 1976. Playing at the

position, Nunley became a starter in 1969 and anchored the 49ers defense in the early 1970s that ran an innovative "flex" defense under Dick Nolan. He helped lead the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

and 1971 49ers teams to consecutive appearances in the

NFL championship Throughout its history, the National Football league (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national ...

games, losing both times to the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

Later years

After retiring from football, Nunley lived in

Los Altos, California Los Altos (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Heights") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 31,625 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Most of the city's growth ...

, and sold electronics for Sanmina-SCA.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nunley, Frank 1945 births 2024 deaths People from Lauderdale County, Alabama Players of American football from Palo Alto, California Players of American football from Alabama American football linebackers Michigan Wolverines football players San Francisco 49ers players Businesspeople from California