George “Sonny” Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran

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Minnesota’s George “Sonny” Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran. Photo credit: National Football Foundation.

Many fine classroom teachers were once successful athletes. This is true of George Franck, a popular Minnesota educator and coach who enjoyed a career as a professional football player before he became a teacher.

George, who was more often called Sonny, was a high school teacher and football coach, first in Oklahoma City and then at Rock Island High School in Illinois. He retired after 25 years as a professional educator in 1978. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and his Master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma.

But before he became a Chalkboard Champion, Sonny was a halfback in the National Football League, playing for the New York Giants. It was a success story that surprised the humble Iowa boy, who had a reputation in high school for being scrawny but tough.

Sonny became an all-state end for his alma mater, Davenport High School, and led the school to a state track title, anchoring an 880-relay unit that set a state record. After graduation, he was recruited to play football and run track at the University of Minnesota, where he became a starting halfback in 1938. He led the Golden Gophers to a national championship in 1940, his senior year. That season, Sonny was named an All-American, All-Big Ten, and the Most Valuable Player of the College All-Star Game. Academically, he earned the Big Ten Medal for scholarship and athletics. In the Heisman Trophy voting that year, Sonny placed third, and then he was drafted into the NFL in the first round in 1941. That’s when he went to play for the Giants.

Sonny was also a WWII veteran. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan, he served his country in the US Marines, joining as an infantry officer and completing a tour of duty on Iwo Jima. While there, he saw Jack Chevigny, a football star for Notre Dame, killed in action. Sonny eventually became certified as a fighter pilot and served aboard the USS Hornet. A recipient of nine battle stars, he narrowly escaped death when his plane was shot down in the South Pacific in 1945. When the war was over, Sonny resumed his professional football career, playing for the Giants in their 1946, 1947, and 1948 seasons.

Sadly, George “Sonny” Franck passed away from acute leukemia in January, 2011, at the age of 92. But throughout his career as an educator, he was a genuine Chalkboard Champion.