George Wayne Hansen (October 6, 1928 – August 24, 1987) 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 ...

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 ...

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

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 ...

and

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 ...

. 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 Texas, El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the University of Texas System ...

Early years

Hansen was born in

McCamey, Texas McCamey is a city in Upton County, Texas, Upton County, Texas, United States. Its population was 1,831 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Texas legislature has declared McCamey "the Wind Energy Capital of Texas" because of the m ...

and attended Monahans High School. He accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Texas-El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the University of Texas System ...

, where he played nose tackle, linebacker and center. He opened holes for

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Fred Wendt Fred Wendt (July 15, 1924 – May 18, 2020) was an American football player. He played college football for the UTEP Miners football team. He led the NCAA major colleges in rushing yardage with 1,570 rushing yards in 1948. His total of 1,570 r ...

and Pug Gabrel, helping the team lead the nation in rushing in 1948. He was a part of back-to-back

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

appearances and returned a kickoff 51 yards for a touchdown, to clinch a 33-20 victory over

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in the

1950 Sun Bowl The 1950 Sun Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Texas Western Miners and the Georgetown Hoyas. Background The Miners finished 3rd in the Border Conference in Curtice's final year with the team, as they tried to get their ...

. In 1973, he was inducted into El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2013, he was inducted into the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2014, he was named to the UTEP's Centennial football team. In 2008, he was named to the 75th Anniversary All-

team.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Hansen was selected in the sixth round (76th overall) of the

1950 NFL draft The 1950 NFL draft was held January 20–21, 1950, at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. With the league absorbing the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, and San Francisco 49ers from the All-America Football Conference, these three t ...

. He became the starter at center as a rookie, displacing Clyde "Bulldog" Turner. He played center, offensive guard and defensive tackle, before being converted to linebacker in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

. He was also the team's defensive captain during most of his time with the Bears. He temporarily retired at the end of the 1957 season. On November 10,

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

, because of injuries, he was lured out of retirement to help the team. He retired again at the end of the year.

Dallas Cowboys

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

, the

convinced him to come out of retirement to be a part of their inaugural season. He became one of the first starters at

outside 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 lin ...

in franchise history (the other was Gene Cronin). He retired at the end of the year, having missed only two games in 10 seasons.

Personal life

Besides having different business interests, he served as an assistant football coach at Texas Western, Oklahoma, and Stanford. On August 24, 1987, he died after battling bone cancer.

References

External links

UTEP bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Wayne 1928 births 1987 deaths People from Monahans, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football linebackers Chicago Bears players Dallas Cowboys players UTEP Miners football players Monahans High School alumni People from McCamey, Texas