.jpg) Sprinkle on a 1951Bowman football card | |||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7 | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Positions | Defensive end End | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1923-09-03)September 3, 1923 Bradshaw, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Died | July 28, 2014(2014-07-28) (aged 90) Palos Heights, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 206 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||
| High school | Tuscola (Tuscola, Texas) | ||||||||||||||||||
| College | Hardin–Simmons (1940–1942) Navy (1943) | ||||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1944: undrafted | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
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Edward Alexander Sprinkle (September 3, 1923 – July 28, 2014) was an American professionalfootballdefensive end andend who played for theChicago Bears of theNational Football League (NFL). He was known to many as "the Meanest Man in Pro Football" and was nicknamed "the Claw". He played for 12 seasons with the Bears and is credited with calling attention to the NFL's defensive players.
Prior to his NFL career, Sprinkle won threeletters in football and two inbasketball and earned All-Border Conference while atHardin–Simmons University in the early 1940s. Hardin-Simmons dropped its sports program due toWorld War II, causing Sprinkle to transfer to theUnited States Naval Academy for his senior season in 1943, where he earned All-Eastern honors.
After leaving college, Sprinkle was signed byGeorge Halas'Chicago Bears in 1944. At first, he played on both defense and offense; he caught 32 passes for 451 yards and seventouchdowns during his career. His ability to rush opposing quarterbacks, however, soon made him a defensive specialist.
Sprinkle quickly developed a reputation for his aggressive playing style; in the1946 NFL Championship Game,New York GiantsGeorge Franck,Frank Reagan, andFrank Filchock left with injuries sustained in hits from Sprinkle. One of Sprinkle's tackling strategies, a clothesline tackle with his forearm, led to him receiving the nickname "The Claw" fromCollier's Weekly.[1]
While accused of "dirty play" and unsportsmanlike conduct during his career, leading to calls in 1949 from coachesGreasy Neale andBuddy Parker for the NFL to discipline him,[2][3] he defended his play as not being any different from other players of the era. According to Sprinkle, "We were meaner in the 1950s because there were fewer positions and we fought harder for them. It was a different era."[4] He was praised by Halas "the greatest pass-rusher I've ever seen,"[1][5] while Giants quarterbackY. A. Tittle remarked in 1969 that "quarterbacks would look with only one eye for receivers. They kept the other eye on Sprinkle."[6]
Following his pro career, Sprinkle entered business in theChicago area. He died on July 28, 2014.[7][8]
TheProfessional Football Researchers Association named Sprinkle to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2007.[9]Sprinkle was also inducted in theChicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.
On January 15, 2020, Sprinkle was elected to thePro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2020.[10]
Sprinkle was also an avid golfer. He had a handicap of 18 at the Midlothian Country Club.