74. Charles Brock
Football / Columbus / 1916-1987
QUICK FACTS:
Related: 'Ball thief' Brock a star in life
Played for: Kramer High in Columbus, Nebraska Cornhuskers and Green Bay Packers
Best athlete from Nebraska played with or against: Perhaps it was Paul Amen, another multi-sport star of Brock's era. Amen, from Lincoln High, lettered three times in football, basketball and baseball at NU.
Best moment as an athlete: It couldn't have gotten much better than Dec. 17, 1944. He captained the Green Bay Packers to a 14-7 win over the New York Giants in the NFL championship game. The Giants had beaten Green Bay 24-0 four weeks earlier.
Charles Brock could have picked his sport and excelled at it as a Columbus school boy in the early 1930s.
But there was no need to choose. He starred in nearly every sport. Brock earned 16 varsity letters at Kramer High School, including four each in football, basketball and track. He was twice an all-state football and basketball player, and he won the shot put and discus titles at the 1933 state track meet.
When Brock showed up at the University of Nebraska, he hardly slowed down. Three times Brock was named All-Big Six at center. As a senior, Brock earned All-America honors and was drafted in the second round by the Green Bay Packers to play center.
Nebraska fans, though, may have remembered him more for his work as a linebacker. "He was a natural there," said former Lincoln High football coach Bill Pfeiff, who played alongside Brock at NU in 1937. "The good ones just know where to go."
Said former Nebraska sports information director Don Bryant: "Boy, could he make tackles."
Brock made tackles for the Green Bay Packers for nine seasons. He served as the Packers' captain for four years under coach Earl "Curly" Lambeau and again played on both sides of the ball in the NFL. He was twice chosen to the Associated Press all-pro team.
Brock coached at Omaha University and with the Packers. He was named to the Packers' iron-man team in 1976.
--Mitch Sherman
QUICK FACTS:
Related: 'Ball thief' Brock a star in life
Played for: Kramer High in Columbus, Nebraska Cornhuskers and Green Bay Packers
Best athlete from Nebraska played with or against: Perhaps it was Paul Amen, another multi-sport star of Brock's era. Amen, from Lincoln High, lettered three times in football, basketball and baseball at NU.
Best moment as an athlete: It couldn't have gotten much better than Dec. 17, 1944. He captained the Green Bay Packers to a 14-7 win over the New York Giants in the NFL championship game. The Giants had beaten Green Bay 24-0 four weeks earlier.
