Don Durdan

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Don Durdan
Date of birth: September 21, 1920
Place of birth: Arcata, California
Date of death: June 28, 1971 (aged 50)
Place of death: Corvallis, Oregon
Career information
Position(s): HB
College: Oregon State University
Organizations
 As player:
1946-1947 San Francisco 49ers
Stats at DatabaseFootball.com

Donald Edgar Durdan (September 21, 1920 – June 28, 1971) was a professional American football and basketball player.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Durdan was born in Arcata, California and attended Eureka High School, where he played running back on the high school football team. In 1935, Durdan's team was not only undefeated, but they did not allow their opponents to score a single point.[1]

Durdan went on to Oregon State, where he started in baseball, basketball, and football, and was a member of Pacific Coast Conference championship teams in each sport. He was named an All-American in basketball in his senior year of 1943.[2]

[edit] Rose Bowl MVP

In 1941, the Beavers football team won the Pacific Coast Conference and a berth in the 1942 Rose Bowl against the undefeated Duke Blue Devils. With the United States' entry into World War II, concern about an Japanese attack on the West Coast brought a relocation of the game to Duke's home stadium in Durham, North Carolina.[3] In spite of the fact that Duke was favored by two touchdowns, the Beavers pulled off a major upset, winning 20-16.[4] Durdan, who showed his all-around skill by rushing for 54 yards and a touchdown, passing, and punting, was named the game's most valuable player.[3] This remains the only Beavers' Rose Bowl victory.

[edit] Professional career

Durdan served in the United States Navy during World War II.[5] After the war, Durdan signed with the San Francisco 49ers in 1946, where he played halfback as well as defensive back for one full season and part of a second in 1947.

In addition to playing professional football, Durdan also played professional basketball for the Portland Indians of the Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League. The league lasted just two seasons (1946-47 and 1947-48), but Durdan's Indians won the best-of-five league championship in 1948 over the rival Seattle Athletics.[6]

[edit] Personal

In 1946, Durdan married Maxine DeMoss, sister of Oregon golf champion Grace DeMoss (another DeMoss sister married Durdan's Rose Bowl teammate Quentin Greenough).[5][7] Following his sports career, Durdan became a funeral director in his wife's family's funeral home business in Corvallis, Oregon.[5] He died in Corvallis in 1971.[8] He was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1981,[9] and in 1988, to both the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame and the Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame.[10][11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Pigg tops athletes of century. Times-Standard (Eureka, Calif.) (January 2, 2000). Retrieved on 2007-11-05.
  2. ^ Best of OSU Archives. Oregon State University Archives. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  3. ^ a b Rose Bowl Timeline. Pasadena Tournament of Roses. Retrieved on 2007-11-05.
  4. ^ "Underdog Bites Duke" (January 12, 1942). Time. 
  5. ^ a b c Our History. DeMoss and Durdan Funeral Home and Crematory. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  6. ^ Kenyon, J. Michael. Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League 1946-47 to 1947-48. Association for Professional Basketball Research. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  7. ^ Obituary: Raymond "Rick" Greenough. Corvallis Gazette-Times (October 20, 2004). Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
  8. ^ Donald Edgar Durdan. Find A Grave. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  9. ^ Inductees: Football. Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
  10. ^ Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. Pasadena Tournament of Roses. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  11. ^ Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame. Oregon State Sports Information. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.