Hugh Harold "Duke" Gallarneau (April 2, 1917 – July 14, 1999) was an American professional

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who was a halfback 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) from 1941 to 1942 and 1945 to 1947 for 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 ...

. 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 ...

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, where he was an All-American.

College career

Gallarneau attended

Morgan Park High School Morgan Park High School is a four-year public high school and middle school located in the Morgan Park, Chicago, Morgan Park neighborhood on the far south side of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1916, Morgan Park is a part o ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, but did not play high school football, opting instead for swimming, track, and baseball. After high school, he was accepted to

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

on an academic scholarship, and decided to try out for the football team for the 1938 season and made the team. In 1938, Stanford's team was 3–6, and the next year, fell to 1–7–1. The next year, 1940, new head football coach

Clark Shaughnessy Clark Daniel Shaughnessy (born Clark Daniel O'Shaughnessy; March 6, 1892 – May 15, 1970) was an American football coach and innovator. He is sometimes called the "father of the T formation" and the original founder of the forward pass, althou ...

introduced the

T formation In American football, a T formation (frequently called the full house formation in modern usage, sometimes the Robust T) is a formation used by the offensive team in which three running backs line up in a row about five yards behind the quarter ...

, and the Indians were transformed in a winner. Gallarneau, as part of a backfield including future NFL players

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Frankie Albert Frank Cullen Albert (January 27, 1920 – September 4, 2002) was an American professional football player and coach. He played as a quarterback and punter with the San Francisco 49ers in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and later in ...

, halfback Pete Kmetovic, and fullback

Norm Standlee Norman S. Standlee (July 19, 1919 – January 5, 1981) was an American professional football player who was a fullback and, later in his career, linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college ...

, were the core of a team known as the Wow Boys, which went undefeated and beat

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

21–13 in the

1941 Rose Bowl The 1941 Rose Bowl was the 27th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Wednesday, January 1. The undefeated and second-ranked Stanford Indians of the Pacific Coast Conference defeated the ...

. In that game, Gallarneau scored two of Stanford's touchdowns, on a 10-yard run and a 40-yard pass reception. Gallarneau was named an

All-American 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 ...

in football, was on Stanford's rugby team, and won the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a collegiate athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (includin ...

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

title.

NFL career

In the

1941 NFL draft The 1941 NFL draft was held on December 10, 1940, at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Bears selected halfback Tom Harmon. The Bears selected 24 players, but forfeited their final fou ...

, Gallarneau was selected in the third round by the

. He played for the Bears for the 1941 and 1942 seasons. Gallarneau still holds the Bears' record for the longest

punt return Punt or punting may refer to: Boats * Punt (boat), a flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow developed on the River Thames * Falmouth Quay Punt, a small sailing vessel hired by ships anchored in Falmouth harbour * Norfolk Punt, a type of racing ...

in a postseason game, returning a punt 81 yards for a touchdown against 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 ...

in the divisional playoffs to help lead the Bears to the

1941 NFL Championship game The 1941 NFL Championship Game was the ninth annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), held at Wrigley Field in Chicago on December 21. Played two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the attendance was 13,341 ...

. The return also remains the third-longest in NFL postseason history.

World War II

In 1943, Gallarneau joined the

Marine Corps Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore (often in supp ...

to fight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was trained as a night fighter director and fought in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, rising to the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. During the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Impe ...

and he was a member of Air Warning Squadron 8 attached to a SCR-527 radar detachment located near Yontan Airifeld. On May 18, Gallarneau was working with 1stLt Robert Wellwood from VMF(N)-533, callsign "Scrapper 17." That evening Gallarneau and Wellwood collaborated to shoot down three Japanese

Mitsubishi G4M The Mitsubishi G4M is a twin-engine, land-based medium bomber formerly manufactured by the Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and operated by the Air Service (IJNAS) of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to ...

"Betty" bombers. Gallarneau was awarded the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

for his efforts in assisting with the downing of six Japanese aircraft during the Battle of Okinawa. He returned to the Bears for the 1945 season, and played three more seasons before retiring in 1947.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

After football

After leaving football, Gallarneau remained in Chicago, working for

Marshall Field's Marshall Field & Company (colloquially Marshall Field's) was an American department store chain founded in 1852 by Potter Palmer. It was based in Chicago, Illinois and founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, ...

and Hart, Schaffner & Marx, where he retired as a vice president in 1985. He 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 ...

in 1982 and is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame and the

Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame The Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, located in the Hawthorne Race Course, in Stickney/Cicero, near Chicago, honors sports greats associated with the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded in 1979 as a trailer owned by the Olympia Brewing Compa ...

. He died in

Northfield, Illinois Northfield is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located approximately north of downtown Chicago. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the village's population was 5,751. It is part of a collection of upscale reside ...

, in 1999.

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallarneau, Hugh 1917 births 1999 deaths American football halfbacks El Toro Flying Marines football players Chicago Bears players Stanford Cardinal football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Players of American football from Chicago Players of American football from Detroit Military personnel from Chicago Delta Upsilon members