Fuzzy Thurston

[covufan]

Saw this on Facebook:

https://twitter.com/PGPackersNews/status/508998865719406592

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‏@PGPackersNews Sep 8  Via Jerry Kramer's daughter. MT @JerryKramer4HOF: Fuzzy Thurston is not doing well. So keep him and his family in your prayers and thoughts.

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Appears that Fuzzy Thurston is not doing well.  Jerry Kramer's daughter is asking to keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers. 

[VULB#62]

Thanks for posting that.

[setshot]

We use to call the "Fuzz" Altoona for his home town. My wife whom I had not met as yet thought his name was Al Tuna. On a personal note,when the Packers were in town in the early 60's playing the Unitias led Colts,our 8 yr. old son was the regional PP&K champ. He was competing at half time for the right to go to the Super Bowl (he came in 2nd.)Anyhow,called Fuzz at his hotel and asked him if he would pose for a picture with our boy. He did. In fact he had Forrest Gregg and Jim Ringo with him. Great time had by all. Our prayers are with you Fuzz.

[covufan]

We use to call the "Fuzz" Altoona for his home town. My wife whom I had not met as yet thought his name was Al Tuna. On a personal note,when the Packers were in town in the early 60's playing the Unitias led Colts,our 8 yr. old son was the regional PP&K champ. He was competing at half time for the right to go to the Super Bowl (he came in 2nd.)Anyhow,called Fuzz at his hotel and asked him if he would pose for a picture with our boy. He did. In fact he had Forrest Gregg and Jim Ringo with him. Great time had by all. Our prayers are with you Fuzz.

Thanks for the words and story.  Since you are among the few that remember Fuzz from Valpo, can you tell us any other stories?

[valpo64]

I understand there are many stories about Fuzzy while he attended Valpo.  Most, however, are not repeated. 

[covufan]

I understand there are many stories about Fuzzy while he attended Valpo.  Most, however, are not repeated. 

I think setshot has mentioned the same thing!

[bbtds]

Like many young college linemen I heard that Fuzzy used to get drunk and pull stop signs out of the ground.

Out of respect I kept that account clean. It sure was short.

Get well wishes and blessings to Mr. Thurston.

[covufan]

Just saw that Fuzzy has passed away.
http://www.packers.com/news-and-events/article-1/Fuzzy-Thurston-legendary-Packers-guard-dead-at-80/f0054181-d675-459e-9aac-29e3b3651548?adbid=10152818909050073&adbpl=fb&adbpr=71671905072&campaign=social_20141214_37283987

[VULB#62]

I was surprised that he never played football in HS and that he didn't play FB until his junior year at Valpo.  At 6-1, 247 he was good sized for the 60s, but not for these days.  The action pictures in the gallery really captured the in-the-trenches aspect of football back then.  He was one of a kind and will be missed.

[historyman]

I talked to an alum today who graduated from Valpo in the 50's.

He says that Fuzzy was awarded a scholarship on the basketball team but because of his rough play Coach Em Bauer (that happened to be the only year that Em coached basketball) advised Thurston to try out for football which Bauer coached regularly at that time. So at the beginning of his sophomore year Thurston switched to football. He might not have played a bunch during his sophomore year but Fuzzy certainly was on the football team as a sophomore. He was learning the game from Coach Bauer.

That comes from someone involved in reporting the comings and goings of the football and basketball teams at the time.






Fred Thurston is the 11th in Row 3.

This is the 1954 Beacon for the 1953 football team. That is Thurston's sophomore year.

Fuzzy was #80 and he died at 80 years of age.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

I guess we could retitle this thread "Fuzzy Memories"?

Someone should get Mel Doering's thoughts on him too.  On a LOT of VU topics, actually...

[VUOR63]

It sounds like Fuzzy is the kind of man who would have been at a party like this one:

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/arrested-at-valpo-drinking-party-are-vu-athletes/article_8590c2b7-6c56-57de-bf75-04537f720590.html#.VI9jDucSGe0.facebook

May he rest in peace and look over the Valpo football program next year.

[setshot]

NYT published a big obit incl.pictures of the "FUZZ"

[talksalot]

Setshot:  Here's the link...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/16/sports/football/fuzzy-thurston-an-ex-packer-dies-at-80-was-a-big-broom-in-the-great-sweep-play.html?ref=obituaries&_r=0

[covufan]

Setshot:  Here's the link...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/16/sports/football/fuzzy-thurston-an-ex-packer-dies-at-80-was-a-big-broom-in-the-great-sweep-play.html?ref=obituaries&_r=0

In addition to his daughter, he is survived by two sons, Mark and Griff, and three grandchildren.

Not sure if I'm remembering correctly, but I think that Fuzzy had a son that attended Valparaiso in the 1980's, and that he was a cartoonist for the torch. 

My thoughts go out to his family and those that knew him during his Valpo years.  Setshot has shared stories in the past, and I'm sure the board would like to learn more about Fuzzy's time at Valpo.

[bbtds]

I believe another member of that 1953 Valpo football team was a future Athletic Director at Valpo. Check out the 8th guy in row 3 by the name of Steinbrecher.

[covufan]

ASN considers Fuzzy Number 45 of the top 50 NFL Championship Competitors!  Congrats to Fuzzy.

Setshot:  I hope that you (and others that remember Fuzzy in his time at VU) can somehow sit down with someone from the VU Athletics Department to relay some of the stories from Fuzzy's time at VU. 

http://americansportsnet.com/no-45-fuzzy-thurston-helped-packers-deliver-super-bowl-i-ii-punch/


NO. 45 | Fuzzy Thurston helped Packers deliver Super Bowl I-II punch

 January 13, 2016  Jill R. Dorson  More, News, Super Poll 50   
  LOS ANGELES - JANUARY 15, 1967: Runningback Jim Taylor #31, of the Green Bay Packers, gets a hug from teammate Fred "Fuzzy" Thurston #63 after Taylor's 14-yard touchdown run put the Packers ahead 14-7 in the second quarter of Super Bowl I on January 15, 1967 against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. Jim Taylor and Fuzzy Thurston6701 (Photo by: Kidwiler Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

For an athlete who attended college on a basketball scholarship, Fred "Fuzzy" Thurston made his name on the football field. A graduate of Valparaiso, Thurston is one of only three players in pro football history to participate on six world championship teams, including the first two Super Bowls.

45-Fuzzy-ThurstonThurston, an offensive lineman, was one of the pulling guards for Vince Lombardi's signature play that helped pave Green Bay's way to five championships, including the first two Super Bowls against the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders. Thurston also won an NFL championship with the Baltimore Colts in 1958.

A two-time All-American in 1954 and 1955 as an offensive lineman for Valparaiso, Thurston was among 15 charter members inducted into the Valpo Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998. He was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1975

Playing under the legendary Lombardi, Thurston was often paired with guard Jerry Kramer, and was selected All-Pro in 1961 and 1962. But the highlight of his career was five championships with the Packers in 1961-62 and 1965-67.

Among Thurston's most famous quotes, he said he drank "about 10 vodkas" in an effort to stay warm during the famous Ice Bowl, the 1967 NFL championship during which the Packers beat the Cowboys, 21-17, where temperatures dipped to 13-below zero at Lambeau Field.

He explained the importance of the Packers' winning the first two Super Bowls: "I don't want some guy to come into my steak house, point at me and say, 'You played on the first team to lose to the AFL.'"

Thurston, who died in December 2014, is not a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1975. He's also been enshrined in the Indiana Football Hall of Fame (1982) and Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame (2003). In Wisconsin, Thurston was the first player ever voted in by the residents of the state.

Drafted by the Eagles in the fifth round in 1956, Thurston didn't play for Philadelphia that season, as he was drafted by the Army. When he returned, he played for the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Canada and the Baltimore Colts before being traded to Green Bay in 1959. In 2011, one of his Super Bowl rings sold for $50,788 at auction.

"I came in with Coach Lombardi, and I retired when he stepped down," Thurston said in a 2011 interview with Packer Plus. "I was lucky to play for the Green Bay Packers, a great coach with such great teammates. Not bad for a kid from Altoona (Pa.)."