{"id":10514,"date":"2022-05-27T03:00:39","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T10:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/?p=10514"},"modified":"2022-05-08T15:35:17","modified_gmt":"2022-05-08T22:35:17","slug":"george-sonny-franck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/","title":{"rendered":"George &#8220;Sonny&#8221; Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div id=\"attachment_10515\" style=\"width: 243px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10515\" data-attachment-id=\"10515\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/30152_1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg?fit=233%2C318&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"233,318\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"30152_1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;George &#8220;Sonny&#8221; Franck: Photo credit:&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg?fit=220%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg?fit=233%2C318&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10515\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg?resize=233%2C318&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"233\" height=\"318\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg?w=233&amp;ssl=1 233w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg?resize=220%2C300&amp;ssl=1 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 233px) 100vw, 233px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10515\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Minnesota&#8217;s George &#8220;Sonny&#8221; Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran. Photo credit: National Football Foundation.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>George, who was more often called Sonny,\u00a0was 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\u2019s degree from the University of Minnesota and his Master\u2019s degree from the University of Oklahoma.<\/div>\n<p>But before he became a Chalkboard Champion,\u00a0Sonny 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.<\/p>\n<p>Sonny\u00a0became 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.\u00a0After graduation, he\u00a0was 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\u00a0in 1940, his senior year. That season,\u00a0Sonny\u00a0was named an All-American, All-Big Ten, and\u00a0the Most Valuable Player of the College All-Star Game. Academically, he earned the Big Ten Medal for scholarship and athletics.\u00a0In the Heisman Trophy voting that year, Sonny placed third, and then he was drafted into the NFL in\u00a0the first round\u00a0in 1941. That\u2019s when he went to play for the Giants.<\/p>\n<p>Sonny\u00a0was also a WWII veteran. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan, he\u00a0served his country in\u00a0the US Marines, joining\u00a0as 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.\u00a0Sonny eventually became certified as a fighter pilot and served aboard the <em>USS Hornet.<\/em> A recipient of nine battle stars, he\u00a0narrowly escaped death when\u00a0his plane\u00a0was shot down in the South Pacific in 1945. When the war was over,\u00a0Sonny resumed his professional football career, playing for the Giants in their 1946, 1947, and 1948 seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, George &#8220;Sonny&#8221; 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minnesota&#8217;s George &#8220;Sonny&#8221; Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran. <a href=\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[16,19,65],"class_list":["post-10514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-coaches","tag-teacher-athletes","tag-veterans"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>George &quot;Sonny&quot; Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran - Chalkboard Champions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"George &quot;Sonny&quot; Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran - Chalkboard Champions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Minnesota&#039;s George &quot;Sonny&quot; Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran. Continue reading &rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Chalkboard Champions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-27T10:00:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Terry Lee Marzell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Terry Lee Marzell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Terry Lee Marzell\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9e909013cd1d2452eda236fe4f23eec7\"},\"headline\":\"George &#8220;Sonny&#8221; Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-27T10:00:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/\"},\"wordCount\":434,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9e909013cd1d2452eda236fe4f23eec7\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Athletic Coaches\",\"Teacher Athletes\",\"Veterans\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/\",\"name\":\"George \\\"Sonny\\\" Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran - Chalkboard Champions\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-27T10:00:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"George &#8220;Sonny&#8221; Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/\",\"name\":\"Chalkboard Champions\",\"description\":\"Recognizing and Celebrating Great Teachers\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9e909013cd1d2452eda236fe4f23eec7\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9e909013cd1d2452eda236fe4f23eec7\",\"name\":\"Terry Lee Marzell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e68202b11be78b9d7bdb70770c1eb7e1?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e68202b11be78b9d7bdb70770c1eb7e1?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Terry Lee Marzell\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Terry Lee Marzell holds a bachelor's degree in English from Cal State Fullerton and a master's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Cal State San Bernardino. She also holds a certificate for Interior Design Level 1 from Mt. San Antonio College. She has been an educator in the Corona Norco Unified School District for more than 30 years.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/author\/terryleemarzellverizon-net\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"George \"Sonny\" Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran - Chalkboard Champions","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"George \"Sonny\" Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran - Chalkboard Champions","og_description":"Minnesota's George \"Sonny\" Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran. Continue reading &rarr;","og_url":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/","og_site_name":"Chalkboard Champions","article_published_time":"2022-05-27T10:00:39+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Terry Lee Marzell","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Terry Lee Marzell","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/"},"author":{"name":"Terry Lee Marzell","@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9e909013cd1d2452eda236fe4f23eec7"},"headline":"George &#8220;Sonny&#8221; Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran","datePublished":"2022-05-27T10:00:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/"},"wordCount":434,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9e909013cd1d2452eda236fe4f23eec7"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg","keywords":["Athletic Coaches","Teacher Athletes","Veterans"],"articleSection":["Education"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/","url":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/","name":"George \"Sonny\" Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran - Chalkboard Champions","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg","datePublished":"2022-05-27T10:00:39+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/30152_1.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/george-sonny-franck\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"George &#8220;Sonny&#8221; Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/","name":"Chalkboard Champions","description":"Recognizing and Celebrating Great Teachers","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9e909013cd1d2452eda236fe4f23eec7"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9e909013cd1d2452eda236fe4f23eec7","name":"Terry Lee Marzell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e68202b11be78b9d7bdb70770c1eb7e1?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e68202b11be78b9d7bdb70770c1eb7e1?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Terry Lee Marzell"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Terry Lee Marzell holds a bachelor's degree in English from Cal State Fullerton and a master's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Cal State San Bernardino. She also holds a certificate for Interior Design Level 1 from Mt. San Antonio College. She has been an educator in the Corona Norco Unified School District for more than 30 years.","sameAs":["http:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org"],"url":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/author\/terryleemarzellverizon-net\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6fUm6-2JA","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10514"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10517,"href":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10514\/revisions\/10517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chalkboardchampions.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}