Date of birth December 6, 1918 Role American football player Name Al Ghesquiere | 1938-1940 Detroit Place of birth Detroit, Michigan Positions Halfback | |
Date of death October 16, 2012 (age 93) Place of death Grosse Pointe, Michigan Died October 16, 2012, Grosse Pointe, Michigan, United States College University of Detroit Mercy | ||
Albert William "Al" Ghesquiere (December 6, 1918 – October 16, 2012), nicknamed the Crazy Buffalo, was an American football player. He led the NCAA in rushing in 1940 with 956 yards in nine games.
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Early years
Ghesquiere was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and attended St. Paul High School in Grosse Pointe.
University of Detroit
He attended the University of Detroit on a basketball scholarship. After seeing Ghesquiere playing with the university's freshman team in the fall of 1939, Detroit Titans football coach Gus Dorais (who was also the university's athletic director) arranged for him to play football instead of basketball. Ghesquiere played for Dorais' Titans from 1938 to 1940. He was the team's leading scorer in both 1938 and 1940. He also led the NCAA with 958 rushing yards during the 1940 season, 113 yards more that 1940 Heisman Trophy winner, Tom Harmon. He averaged 6.6 yards per carry in 1940, which ranked third best among major college players that year. He was a triple-threat man who also passed for 285 yards in 1940 for a combined total of 1,242 rushing and passing yards.
Later years
Ghesquiere was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 26th pick in the 1941 NFL Draft, but he turned down an offer of $1,200 per year and chose not to play professional football. Instead, Ghesquiere worked for more than 40 years for Uniroyal Tire Company. In 1981, he was inducted into the Detroit Titans Hall of Fame. He died in October 2012 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, at age 93.