|
Gerald L. "Jerry" Frei (June 3, 1924 – February 16, 2001) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Oregon〔McCann, Michael C. (1995). Oregon Ducks Football: 100 Years of Glory. Eugene, OR: McCann Communications Corp. ISBN 0-9648244-7-7.〕 from 1967 to 1971, compiling a record of 22–29–2. At Oregon, Frei coached Dan Fouts and Ahmad Rashad. He later worked in the National Football League (NFL) as a coach and scout, mostly with the Denver Broncos. ==Early life, playing career, and military service== Fittingly, Frei was born in the small Wisconsin town of Oregon. He spent his early years in Brooklyn, Wisconsin, then moved with his family to Stoughton, near Madison. He graduated from Stoughton High School in 1941, shortly before his 17th birthday. He was a classmate there of Marian Benson, whom he later married in 1945. Frei was inducted into the Stoughton Hall of Fame after his death. Frei attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison. As a sophomore in 1942, he was a guard for the Wisconsin Badgers. The team, which starred two-time All American end Dave Schreiner and halfback Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, finished with an 8–1–1 record, ranked third in the final AP Poll, and was named the national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation. The Badgers beat the AP national champion, Ohio State 17-7, but lost to unheralded Iowa 6-0 and tied Notre Dame 7-7. That glorious Badger season was played in a final-fling atmosphere on campus with many students, including football players, already enlisted in the service and awaiting their callups to active duty during World War II. Only one player from that Badgers team still was on the Wisconsin roster in 1943. Frei was only 18, but like most of his teammates, he went on active duty in early 1943. He still was only 18 years old. Frei served as a pilot in the United States Army Air Forces, after training flying 67 reconnaissance missions in the Pacific theater for the 26th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron (26th PRS) of the Fifth Air Force's 6th Photographic Group. In the unarmed version of the P-38, he made solo or tandem flights over Japanese targets to take photographs in advance of bombing missions. He was awarded the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf clusters, meaning he in essence earned the medal three times.〔(Frei, Terry. "Grateful For the Guard," ''The Denver Post'', 13 November 2000 )〕 Later, Frei's son, Terry, told the story of that team in his book, "Third Down and a War to Go." Two starters (Schreiner and tackle Bob Baumann) were killed in action on Okinawa and the Badgers compiled a stunning collection of military honors in various service branches and around the world. After the war, Frei returned to Wisconsin, where he played football for the Badgers as a junior and senior in 1946 and 1947. He graduated in 1948. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jerry Frei」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|