Edgar Manske

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Edgar "Eggs" Manske (July 4, 1913 – January 27, 2002) was a former professional American football player who played six seasons in the National Football League.

A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Manske excelled in college at both football and basketball. A three-year letterwinner at Northwestern, he began his football career as a walk-on and ended it as team Most Valuable Player in 1933. Considered of the greatest ends in Wildcat history, Manske was elected to the All-Big Ten Conference and United Press International All-America teams in 1933. He was also named to the All-Big Ten team in basketball in 1933.

During his professional football career, he played both wide receiver and defensive end. Manske led the Philadelphia Eagles in scoring during the 1935 season, and as a member of the Chicago Bears, played his last professional game in the memorable 73-0 playoff win over Washington.

Manske was involved in a trade considered among the worst in NFL history. In 1938, he was traded from Chicago to the Pittsburgh Steelers for the Steelers' first-round draft pick. As the worst team in the league, the Steelers had the first pick in the draft, and the Bears eventually drafted future Hall of Fame quarterback Sid Luckman. Manske re-signed with the Bears that same season, leaving Pittsburgh with nothing to show for its top pick.

One of 995 NFL players [1] who served during World War II, Manske joined the Navy as an officer, playing in 1942 with the St. Mary's Preflight School team and earning All-Service All-America honors.

Manske attended Chicago's Loyola University School of Law while playing for the Bears, and practiced law in Chicago for one year after earning his degree.

Manske began his coaching career at Holy Cross University in 1941. After the war, he returned to coaching at the University of Maryland, then worked as an assistant coach for the University of California-Berkeley under Pappy Waldorf from 1947-52, facing his former Northwestern team in the 1949 Rose Bowl.

Manske eventually moved to a career as an educator, and taught biology at Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) for 20 years.

He was married for 53 years to 1928 Olympian and 1932 Summer Olympics bronze medalist, Jane Fauntz.

In 1988 Manske was inducted into the Northwestern Athletics Hall of Fame, and in 1989 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.