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Show v-. x , H. ' ?! if y!Svf " ' i f ' ' - ' Colorful grid career Spendlove honored posthumously for ail-American ail-American grid fame By GARY R. BLODGETT Sports Editor BOUNTIFUL One of the University of Utah's most talented football linemen dating back to the Ike Armstrong Arm-strong era died recently at the age of 67. Floyd (Moose) Spendlove died of a heart attack following follow-ing an extended illness. He was a three-year Big Seven Conference all-star and a bona fide ail-American his senior year with the utes. Floyd was a well-known, well-publicized gridder who made national fame and recognition despite coming from the tiny community of Hinckley (Utah) where he played basketball with his younger (and much shorter) brother, Art. The two were standouts on the Hinckley basketball team. Floyd was a shooting guard (at 6-foot 2) while his brother, Art, a good half-foot shorter, played the wing position. But it was in football that Floyd made his national fame first at the University of Utah, then to the All-Army grid team during World War II, and finally as a professional profes-sional playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Salt Lake Seagulls. Floyd weighed about 200 pounds while playing for the Utes but put on considerable size and was listed at 6-foot 3 and 245 pounds during his professional career. He was chosen to the Big Seven Conference first team in 1939, 1940 and 1941 and in his senior year in 1941 he was named to the Collier's Magazine first team All-American. All-American. The infamous Ike Armstrong, one of this area's most talented and renowned football coaches ever, said of Floyd: "He is unquestionably the finest lineman I have ever coached at the U." That Armstrong quote came while Floyd was still playing for the Utes. And Floyd proved his coach right. After gaining all-conference honors three years and all-American all-American status his senior year, Floyd went on to become a widely publicized player with the U.S. Army All-Star team and finally as a professional with the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was quite ironic how Floyd was chosen from among thousands of servicemen to play for the Army All-Stars. There was a desperate need for Army emergency relief and a series of games were planned between the select Army team and the top pro teams of that time. Floyd was selected as a private just out of basic training and stationed in California to play for the Army East team. By then he had gained his height of 6-foot 3 and put on a few pounds, up to about 225. The first team they played was the Chicago Bears coached by George Halas and led by quarterback Sid Luckman. They lost that game (but I couldn't find the score). Later they beat some of the top-ranked professional profession-al teams and the benefits to the Army Emergency Relief Fund amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Later, he played for the Army 'Superbombers," of the Air Force Football League. But Floyd didn't spent all his military time playing football. foot-ball. He spent 2Vz years in charge of an anti-aircraft gunnery gun-nery outfit in far-north Alaska a remote defense site where throwing snowballs was more common than pas- All-American tackle Floyd Spendlove, of Bountiful, was a bona fide Collier's Magazine pick in 1 94 1 , while playing for Ike Armstrong at the University of Utah. He was later chosen to play on the All-Army East team during World War II and for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Salt Lake Seagulls as a professional. He died just before Christmas at age 67. sing the football. Floyd joined the Army in 1941 with still a semester of college to complete. He once said that he was shocked to be selected to play for the All-Army team from among so many young men who joined or were drafted into the military while at the peak of their athletic career. After the war, he played with the Pittsburgh Steelers and after a dispute there, he returned home to join the struggling Salt Lake Seagulls. But an injured shoulder prevented him from getting in a lot of playing time. Playing on the same Seagulls' team were Roy Evans, retired from the Davis School District; and Dee Chipman, long-time sports writer and associate sports editor of the Deseret News. All three are from Bountiful. By the time he reached his pro career, Floyd was near 250 pounds and was nicknamed "Moose." He married the former Helen Spackman on Nov. 11, 1946, and the marriage was later solemnized in the LDS Temple. At the time of his death, just before Christmas, he was retired as a truck driver from Motor Cargo Lines. He was a member of the Bountiful 45th Ward. |
