Last week the USS Coast Guard accepted into its fleet a new (cutter) named after NFL legend Emlen Tunnel. Tunnel served in the Coast Guard during WW2. While serving, he was credited with saving two lives in two different incidents. After the Coast Guard, Tunnel attended the U of Iowa (1946-47) for a couple of years and left school following an injury. In 1949 Tunnel tried out and joined the New York Giants football team. He became a defensive back, consensus All Pro for the Giants and later the Packers. In 1967 Tunnel was made a member of the NFL Hall of fame. He was the first black footballer to receive such an invitation.
Tunnel died in 1975. Folks....the US military names a battleship after him! The Coast Guard awarded Tunnel the Siver Star posthumously in 2011. He was the first black footballer inducted into the the Pro Football Hall of Fame......he played football for two seasons at the U of IOWA! Yet, the guy is damn near an unknown and unrecognized by the University and the city of Iowa City!
There is one helluva story here....a story no one knows about for the most part! Now I believe he was once invited back to the University when FXL was the coach as there was a Toledo connection between the two men. But that invite was 50 years ago! Surely you would think there is something the University can do to honor former students and athletes like Emlen Tunnel? Hard to believe ol' Emlen slipped between the cracks here.....ain't it?
Tunnel died in 1975. Folks....the US military names a battleship after him! The Coast Guard awarded Tunnel the Siver Star posthumously in 2011. He was the first black footballer inducted into the the Pro Football Hall of Fame......he played football for two seasons at the U of IOWA! Yet, the guy is damn near an unknown and unrecognized by the University and the city of Iowa City!
There is one helluva story here....a story no one knows about for the most part! Now I believe he was once invited back to the University when FXL was the coach as there was a Toledo connection between the two men. But that invite was 50 years ago! Surely you would think there is something the University can do to honor former students and athletes like Emlen Tunnel? Hard to believe ol' Emlen slipped between the cracks here.....ain't it?
