Bob Steuber Robert James " Bob " Steuber ( October 25 , 1921November 29 , 1996 ) was an American football halfback who played four seasons in the National Football League ( NFL ) and the All - America Football Conference ( AAFC ) . Growing up in St . Louis , Missouri , Steuber was a standout on his high school football team . He attended the University of Missouri , where he quickly became one of the country ' s most productive runners and scoring threats . He was second in the country in 1942 with more than 1 , 000 yards of rushing . Steuber was drafted by the NFL ' s Chicago Bears and played briefly for the team before he joined the U . S . Navy and was transferred to Depauw University for training . Playing for Depauw ' s football team in 1943 , he led the nation in scoring . After the war , Steuber signed with the Cleveland Browns of the AAFC , a new league set to start play in 1946 . He was limited by a knee injury that year , however , and was traded to the Los Angeles Dons after the Browns won the first AAFC championship game . Steuber only played in three games for the Dons due to another knee injury , and he was again traded to the Buffalo Bills . A broken back toward the end of the 1948 season ended his playing career for good . Steuber then settled in St . Louis , where he worked as a sports announcer on the weekends . He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971 and the University of Missouri ' s athletics hall of fame in 1990 . His number 37 jersey is retired at Missouri . Early life and college career . Steuber grew up in St . Louis , Missouri and attended the city ' s Christian Brothers College High School , where he starred as a halfback on the school ' s football team . He attended the University of Missouri and played as an end on the Missouri Tigers football team under head coach Don Faurot starting in 1940 . In 1941 , he shifted to halfback and was assigned to kick extra points . He was third in the country in rushing that year with 855 yards as he and fellow halfback Harry Ice led a Missouri ground attack that ranked first in the nation . Missouri won the Big Six Conference championship and faced Fordham University in the Sugar Bowl at the end of the season . Missouri lost the game , played on a muddy field in New Orleans , by a score of 2 – 0 . Steuber ' s success continued in 1942 , when he was named an All - America n and ranked second in the country in rushing , gaining 1 , 098 yards . He also was an effective passer , helping Missouri win the Big Six championship for the second year in a row . Steuber was named an All - America n after the season . He was also selected to play in the East – West Shrine Game and the College All - Star Game , a now - defunct matchup between the National Football League ( NFL ) champion and a squad of the best college players from around the country . Steuber scored a touchdown as the college stars defeated the NFL ' s Washington Redskins . Military and professional career . Steuber was selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the Chicago Bears , but he played in only one game for the team during the 1943 season before departing for the U . S . Navy during World War II . As the Bears went on to win the NFL championship , Steuber entered the Navy ' s pre - flight training college and was transferred to DePauw University in Greencastle , Indiana , where he played basketball and football for the school ' s teams . In football , Steuber scored 77 points in his first three games and finished the 1943 season with the highest scoring total in the country . Steuber was again transferred in 1944 , ending up at Marquette University in the Navy ' s V - 5 training program . Later the same year , he left for the University of Iowa , where he continued to run track for the Iowa Pre - Flight Seahawks . A controversy arose after an official at the Amateur Athletic Union objected to Steuber ' s participation in a meet because he had played professionally for the Bears . Steuber , however , was cleared to compete . Steuber also played baseball while at Iowa . At the end of the year , he moved to the Ottumwa Naval Air Station ' s in Iowa and played for its Skyers football team . Following his discharge from the military at the end of the war , Steuber was expected to rejoin the Bears . He instead was one of the first signings of the Cleveland Browns of the new All - America Football Conference ( AAFC ) in 1945 while he was stationed in Pensacola , Florida . Fritz Heisler , an assistant with the Browns , had coached Steuber while he was at DePauw and recommended him to Paul Brown , the Cleveland head coach . Steuber saw limited action with the Browns due to a knee injury , but the team posted a 12 – 2 regular - season record and won the first AAFC championship game . Brown advised Steuber to quit football because of the injury , but Steuber wanted to continue playing , and he was traded to the AAFC ' s Los Angeles Dons after the season for Frank Yokas , a guard . Hampered by another injury to his knee , Steuber played in just three games for the Dons in 1947 before being acquired by the Buffalo Bills the following year . In a game against the Dons near the end of the 1948 season , Steuber suffered a broken back that put him in a cast for nine months and ended his football career . Later life and death . Following his football career , Steuber settled in St . Louis , where he worked as a sports announcer on weekends . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971 . He was inducted into the University of Missouri ' s athletics hall of fame in 1990 . The University of Missouri retired his number 37 jersey . He died in St . Louis in 1996 .