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  • #1

    Bill Fralic

    I first saw this in a wrestling publication. Penn Hills, Pitt, and NFL great Bill Fralic passed away. They coined the term 'pancake block' for his blocking at Pitt. Fralic was an anti-steroid advocate and was a successful insurance executive after football.

    http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/20968

    http://https://www.usatoday.com/stor...56/2311924002/
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Bill Fralic

    He was a truly outstanding O-lineman in his day. Finished eighth and sixth for the Heisman respectively in his junior and senior years at Pitt. He was also the number two overall selection in the 1985 NFL Draft.

    I think folks forget how many great football players the Pitt program produced in the latter 1970s and early 1980s. Tony Dorsett, Dan Marino, Hugh Green, Chris Doleman, Fralic, Bill Maas, Jimbo Covert, Mark May, et al.

    I recently saw a piece on 20/20 (or some such show) about Fralic's former Atlanta teammate Tim Green and his battle with ALS. I guess it tells us that these guys that were once football gods to us are now getting older and that they paid a terrible price for the game that they played.

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    • #3
      Re: Bill Fralic

      Originally posted by IUP CRIMSON HAWKS View Post
      He was a truly outstanding O-lineman in his day. Finished eighth and sixth for the Heisman respectively in his junior and senior years at Pitt. He was also the number two overall selection in the 1985 NFL Draft.

      I think folks forget how many great football players the Pitt program produced in the latter 1970s and early 1980s. Tony Dorsett, Dan Marino, Hugh Green, Chris Doleman, Fralic, Bill Maas, Jimbo Covert, Mark May, et al.

      I recently saw a piece on 20/20 (or some such show) about Fralic's former Atlanta teammate Tim Green and his battle with ALS. I guess it tells us that these guys that were once football gods to us are now getting older and that they paid a terrible price for the game that they played.

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      :confused:

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      • #4
        Re: Bill Fralic

        I had forgotten he was one of several active NFL players who were in the battle royal at WrestleMania 2. I went back and watched it when the news broke last week. Fun stuff. Sad how many guys who participated in that are now gone.

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        • #5
          Re: Bill Fralic

          Originally posted by IUP CRIMSON HAWKS View Post
          He was a truly outstanding O-lineman in his day. Finished eighth and sixth for the Heisman respectively in his junior and senior years at Pitt. He was also the number two overall selection in the 1985 NFL Draft.

          I think folks forget how many great football players the Pitt program produced in the latter 1970s and early 1980s. Tony Dorsett, Dan Marino, Hugh Green, Chris Doleman, Fralic, Bill Maas, Jimbo Covert, Mark May, et al.

          I recently saw a piece on 20/20 (or some such show) about Fralic's former Atlanta teammate Tim Green and his battle with ALS. I guess it tells us that these guys that were once football gods to us are now getting older and that they paid a terrible price for the game that they played.

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          He died from cancer. Did football give him cancer?

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          • #6
            Re: Bill Fralic

            One of the things mentioned in the local Pittsburgh media was that Bill Fralic helped out the Penn Hills football team with significant donations for coaching equipment and, if I heard it correctly, helped defray some of the lodging costs for Penn Hills' trip to states in Hershey this year. An amazing gesture from a man who never forgot his roots.
            Cal U (Pa.) Class of 2014

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            • #7
              Re: Bill Fralic

              Big guys also don't live as long no matter what profession you're in.

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              • #8
                Re: Bill Fralic

                Originally posted by Mikefln View Post
                He died from cancer. Did football give him cancer?
                Certainly former DE Lyle Alzado would answer yes to this. But certainly I think that he would have referenced steroid abuse more than the actual game of football.

                But you do make an excellent point. Where do you draw the line between football being the culprit on a host of ailments that many former players attribute to the game vs. genetics, lifestyle choices, father time, bad fortune, etc.

                Everything cannot be blamed on football. It is sort of like the Gulf War Syndrome that was talked about some years back. Did something really happen to young and early middle aged men who fought in the Gulf or were they more just victims of happenstance and growing older and suffering afflictions that affect the populace in general?

                Hard to know exactly I guess.

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