professional wrestler
What was the occupation of Butch Levy from 1947 to 1967?
Butch Levy Leonard Bernard Butch / Len Levy ( February 19 , 1921 – February 9 , 1999 ) was an American professional athlete . The 1941 NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion and 1942 AAU champion , he was selected by the Cleveland Rams of the National Football League ( NFL ) in the fourth round of the 1942 NFL Draft . He instead enlisted in the United States Navy and played for one of that branchs organized military service teams , the Great Lakes Bluejackets . Following his discharge from the Navy , Levy played two seasons for the NFLs Rams , winning the NFL Championship in 1945 . He then played for the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference ( AAFC ) from 1947 to 1948 , earning First Team All-AAFC honors in the latter year — his final season of professional football . Following his football career , Levy was a professional wrestler in the American Wrestling Association ( AWA ) . Early years . Levy was born to Abraham Levy and Rose Shapiro on February 19 , 1921 in Minneapolis , Minnesota . Butchs grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Russia . Levy attended West High School in Minneapolis , where he won a total of twelve letters in wrestling , football , baseball and hockey . He was the 1937 and 1938 Minnesota high school and Northwest AAU heavyweight wrestling champion . College career . Levy played for the Minnesota Golden Gophers from 1939 to 1941 . The Gophers won the national championship in 1940 and 1941 , finishing with an 8-0 record both seasons while Levy earned All-American honors both years . He garnered AP All-Western Conference first team recognition his senior year in 1941 . He was named to the Chicago College All-Star Game in 1942 . Levy participated in collegiate wrestling , winning the NCAA heavyweight championship in 1941 , becoming the first Golden Gopher to do so and also earned All-American honors the same year . He suffered a broken foot midway through the 1941-42 season , causing him to miss the rest of the year . He won the AAU heavyweight championship in wrestling in 1942 . Levy also lettered in baseball for the Golden Gophers in 1942 . He graduated with a bachelors degree in economics . He was inducted into the University of Minnesotas M Club Hall of Fame in 1994 . Professional football career . Levy was selected by the Cleveland Rams of the NFL with the 27th pick in the 1942 NFL Draft . He then spent three years in the United States Navy during World War II . Initially disallowed from joining the military due to poor eyesight , he was allowed entry after agreeing to play football for the Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets , one of the organized military service football teams . Levy , who played guard , was regarded as a large lineman by the standards of his era , standing 60 and weighing 260 pounds . He played in seven games for the Rams during the 1945 season . The Rams won the NFL Championship against the Washington Redskins on December 16 , 1945 . When the Rams moved to Los Angeles in 1946 , Levy followed , signing a one-year contract in March 1946 and appearing in ten games for the team in 1946 . He then played in 25 games for the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference ( AAFC ) from 1947 to 1948 , earning All-AAFC first team honors in his final year . He retired from professional football at the end of the 1948 season . Professional wrestling career . Levy became a professional wrestler after his football career . He participated in the NWA Minneapolis Boxing & Wrestling Club / American Wrestling Association , wrestling under the ring name of Butch Levy . He was a two-time NWA World Tag Team champion , first with Verne Gagne and later with Leo Nomellini , both of whom also played for the Minnesota Golden Gophers . Levy met amateur wrestler Pat OConnor from New Zealand during a wrestling tour in Pats home country in 1950 . Levy then trained him to be a professional wrestler . OConnor later won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship and NWA World Heavyweight Championship . Personal life . Levy married Loretta Lucky Bellson in January 1944 and they had three children . Lucky died in 1997 . Len was Jewish and was active in the Jewish community . He worked in his fathers plumbing business before selling it in the late 1960s and becoming an insurance agent for Bankers Life . Levy became a stockbroker in the 1970s and later worked for Piper Jaffray . He was also a securities salesman . He suffered a brain tumor in 1991 . Levys son Rand said Butch was supposed to die but people were just astounded to see him a year later on the golf course . Levy died of cancer on February 9 , 1999 at his home in Minneapolis .