Bruce Hilkene Bruce L . Hilkene ( November 4 , 1925 – April 26 , 1990 ) was the captain and starting left tackle of the undefeated 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team . The team defeated the USC Trojans 49 - 0 in the 1948 Rose Bowl and has been selected as the greatest Michigan football team of all time . Hilkene was named captain of the 1945 team but missed the season due to wartime service in the U . S . Navy . In 1947 he returned as captain . Hilkene later served for many years as an executive at General Motors . He was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1992 . Youth . Hilkene was a native of Indianapolis , Indiana , where he attended high school . College football . Early seasons . He joined the Michigan Wolverines football team as a 17 - year - old freshman in September 1943 where he was a reserve player . Hilkene later joked that he was a " retired end " in 1943 , " retired to the bench so long he didn ' t earn a letter . " At the start of the 1944 season , Hilkene competed for the starting lineup at the end position with Art Renner and Dick Rifenberg . Hilkene won the job and was the starting left end in nine of the team ' s ten games in 1944 . The team was 8 - 2 that year , outscoring opponents 204 - 91 . On his 19th birthday , Hilkene scored his first and only collegiate touchdown on a pass from Howard Yerges in a 41 - 19 win over the University of Pennsylvania . At the conclusion of the 1944 season , Hilkene was selected by the Big Ten coaches as an Honorable Mention player on the Associated Press All Western Conference Team . In December 1944 , Hilkene was also voted by the Michigan players to be the captain of the 1945 football team . Hilkene also played basketball as a backup center for Michigan in 1944 and 1945 . Military service . As a sophomore in 1944 , Hilkene enlisted in the U . S . Navy and participated in the V - 12 Navy College Training Program while continuing his studies in Ann Arbor . In mid - February 1945 , Hilkene was transferred from the university for advance military training . At the time of his transfer to active duty , newspapers published a photograph of Coach Fritz Crisler saying farewell to Hilkene with the following caption : " Losing football players and captains is getting to be an old wartime story for Michigan ' s grid coach , Fritz Crisler . Crisler here is saying ' so long and best of luck ' to Bruce Hilkene , Indianapolis , Ind . , football captain elect . Hilkene has been transferred from Michigan to an advanced Navy training base . " Hilkene missed the 1945 season due to his military service . 1946 season . Hilkene returned to the Michigan football team for the 1946 season , but was moved to left tackle where Coach Fritz Crisler needed Hilkene ' s " fast - charging ability for an aggressive offensive line . " Hilkene proved to be a " line standout . " With the return of numerous players from military service , the 1946 team had five present and former team captains competing for a spot in the lineup : Art Renner , Joe Ponsetto , Bob Wiese , Paul White and Hilkene . Hilkene won a starting spot as left tackle in six of Michigan ' s nine games in 1946 . At the end of the season , Hilkene was named an Honorable Mention at the tackle position on the Associated Press 1946 All - America Team . Having been unable to assume his position as captain of the 1945 team due to military service , Hilkene received the honor again when the Michigan players voted at the end of the 1946 season to name Hilkene , then a 193 - pound tackle , as captain of the 1947 team . 1947 season . Best team in Michigan history . The 1947 Michigan football team captained by Hilkene went undefeated in the regular season and went on to defeat USC 49 - 0 in the 1948 Rose Bowl game . The 1947 team outscored its opponents 394 – 53 and was selected by the ESPN Big Ten College Football Encyclopedia as the best team in the history of Michigan football . The team had two first - team All - Americans , Bob Chappuis and Bump Elliott , and its performance in the 1948 Rose Bowl still stands as the most points scored , and the largest margin of victory , in Rose Bowl history . The 1947 team is also remembered as the first team fully to embrace the concept of defensive and offensive specialization . Previously , most players had played their positions on both offense and defense . But in 1947 , Coach Fritz Crisler established separate offensive and defensive squads . Only Bump Elliott and Jack Weisenberger played on both squads . In November 1947 , Time magazine ran a feature article about the 1947 Wolverines ( with Bob Chappuis ’ photograph on the cover ) focused on the new era of specialization marked by Crisler ’ s decision to field separate offensive and defensive units . ” Offensive line play . Hilkene played on the offensive unit in Crisler ' s team of specialists , and seldom played on defense . Hilkene won praise both for his line play and for his leadership on the 1947 squad . He was one of the key blockers for the powerful offense of the 1947 team , and a November 1947 newspaper profile called him the " Michigan Pilot " and " one of the stars of Michigan ' s famed offensive line is Tackle Bruce Hilkene , a speedy 190 - pounder . Bruce played end in 1943 – 44 , winning a letter . " An Associated Press cartoonist featured Hilkene in a pre - Rose Bowl cartoon , calling him " the lightest tackle in the Big Nine — and the scrappiest . " Ohio State scout , Esco Sarkkinen , pointed to Hilkene ' s speed at the tackle position as one of the strengths of the 1947 Michigan team . Sarkkinen noted , " To show the speed of the tackles , Capt . Bruce Hilkene , who operates on the left side , is a converted end . " Team leadership as captain . Hilkene also played a key leadership role on the 1947 team . After the undefeated regular season concluded , the Long Beach Press - Telegram published a three - column profile of Hilkene under the headline , " Hilkene Unsung Hero of Michigan Eleven . " The article noted : " Captain Bruce Hilkene doesn ' t consider himself a great tackle , nor does he pretend to be a forceful leader , yet he is the mucillage of the 1947 Michigan football team . Twice elected captain of the Wolverines , Hilkene kept the squad together throughout the season . His mild mannerisms off the field belied his inspirational actions which helped guide one of the greatest Michigan teams . . . " He regularly called unscheduled team meetings on his own initiative to iron out any problems with the team . Teammate Pete Elliott later recalled a team meeting called by Hilkene after the team had a terrible practice . He said , " Our captain that year , Bruce Hilkene , announced that right after our meal , we were going to have a team meeting and straighten things out . Nobody said a word during the meal . We got to the meeting and everybody had long faces on . Hilkene said that if anyone had a problem , now was the time to let it out in the open . " Star receiver Dick Rifenburg , stood up , looked at Hilkene and said with a straight face , " I don ' t think I ' m getting enough publicity . " According to Elliott , " Everybody just died laughing . " Fritz Crisler called Hilkene " one of the finest captains that we ' ve ever had since I ' ve been here . " In June 1948 , Hilkene was one of ten Michigan players selected to play in the annual game between the College All - Stars and the Chicago Cardinals . Later years . Hilkene was the 283rd pick in the 1948 NFL Draft , being selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers , but did not play professional football . As of 1961 , Hilkene was working as a labor relations executive with a Detroit automotive firm . Hilkene worked for many years as a General Motors Corp . executive . His son , Mike Hilkene , played football ( at the end position ) for the Michigan Wolverines in the late 1960s . In April 1990 , Hilkene died of cancer at his home in La Quinta , California . In 1992 , he was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor . In 1997 , his wife , Lee , and son Michael ( one of Hilkene ' s three children ) attended a 50 - year reunion of the 1947 Michigan team . At the time , his wife noted , " Bruce felt that football taught him so much . In a way , it influenced the rest of his life . And it was the same way for the entire team . "