George Henry Sauer Sr. (December 11, 1910 – February 5, 1994) 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 ...

player, coach, college sports administrator, and professional football executive.

Career

Sauer attended the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

where he was an All-American halfback under Dana X. Bible from 1931-1933. After college, he played for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

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) from 1935 to 1937, helping them win the 1936 NFL championship as their starting left halfback. Sauer left professional football in 1937 and coached at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

from 1937 to 1941, compiling a record of 22-18-1. He left his coaching position and enlisted in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

in 1942 and was commissioned as an officer after completing the requisite training. After he completed his military service, he coached for two years at

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, he compiled a 15–3–2 (.786) record, winning the conference title in each season. After he left Kansas, Sauer coached at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

(1948–1949), and

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

(1950–1955), compiling a career college football record of 78–55–9 and earning trips to both the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

and the

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, usually contested on or around New Year's Day. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first televise ...

. Sauer remained at Baylor as Athletic Director until 1960 when he became the first

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the New York Titans of 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 ...

. The Titans later reorganized and in 1963 were renamed in as the

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

. As director of player personnel, Sauer drafted and signed his own son, George Sauer Jr. as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. Sauer remained with the Jets until 1969 when he was named general manager of the

Boston Patriots Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

. Sauer appeared as an imposter on the February 26, 1962 episode of the game show

To Tell The Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

Death and legacy

Sauer died in 1994 after a 10 year battle with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife Lillian, son George Sauer Jr., and daughter, Dana. Sauer was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

as a player in 1954 and in 1998 was inducted into the University of New Hampshire Wildcats' Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sauer, George 1910 births 1994 deaths All-American college football players American football halfbacks Baylor Bears athletic directors Baylor Bears football coaches Green Bay Packers players Kansas Jayhawks football coaches NFL general managers Navy Midshipmen football coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers football players New England Patriots executives New Hampshire Wildcats football coaches New Hampshire Wildcats men's basketball coaches New York Jets executives Pensacola Naval Air Station Goslings football players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States College Football Hall of Fame inductees United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of World War II People from Hitchcock County, Nebraska Coaches of American football from Nebraska Players of American football from Nebraska Basketball coaches from Nebraska Military personnel from Nebraska American people of German descent