Quentin Sickels Quentin Brian " Quent " Sickels ( born December 21 , 1926 ) is a former American football player . He played college football for the University of Michigan in 1944 and from 1946 to 1948 . He played on Michigan ' s undefeated 1947 and 1948 national championship team s . His college football career was interrupted by service in the United States Coast Guard during the 1945 football season . Early years . Sickels was the son of Fred Roy Sickels , the athletic director and coach at Benton Harbor Junior High School in Benton Harbor , Michigan and Lois Barker . He played three years of varsity football for Benton Harbor High School and led his team to the state championship as senior in 1943 . At the end of the 1943 season , he was picked as a first - team all - conference player and was also " picked for a line spot on several All - State teams . " He was also an honor student , a member of the National Honor Society , the National Thespians , vice - president of the Hi - Y Club , and a chief petty officer of the Sea Scouts . University of Michigan . Sickels enrolled at the University of Michigan in June 1944 with plans to major in marine architecture . He played four years of varsity football for the Michigan Wolverines football team under head coaches Fritz Crisler and Bennie Oosterbaan . Sickels was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at Michigan . He graduated in 1949 with a Bachelors of Business Administration . 1944 season . Sickels played at the guard position as a 17 - year - old freshman in 1944 . He started all 10 games for the 1944 Michigan team that was ranked # 8 in the final AP Poll . After the 1944 season , Sickels was selected as a second - team All - Big Ten Conference player . Military service . On December 21 , 1944 , the day before his 18th birthday , Sickels joined the United States Coast Guard . On leaving Ann Arbor , Sickels told reporters he hoped to return to the university after the war : " Michigan is a great school . Crisler , [ Biggie ] Munn and the other coaches were a swell bunch of fellows , and I hope to come back and help beat the tar out of those guys at Ohio State . " In February 1945 , Sickels was assigned for training to the Coast Guard School in Groton , Connecticut . He served in the Coast Guard for a year - and - a - half and missed the 1945 season . He was discharged in the spring of 1946 after tours in Europe and the far east . 1946 season . Sickels returned to the University of Michigan in time for summer football training in August 1946 . He played for the 1946 Michigan Wolverines football team that finished the season ranked # 6 in the final Associated Press poll . 1947 season . In February 1947 , Sickels underwent knee surgery at the University of Michigan Hospital . The surgery revealed that a bone chip suffered several years earlier had torn ligaments . Despite missing spring practice following the knee surgery , Sickels was able to play at the defensive guard position for the undefeated 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team . In November 1947 , Sickels was selected by the Associated Press as " the outstanding guard of the nation " for two consecutive weeks . He was also recognized as an " honorable mention " on the United Press All - American team for 1947 . Sickels led the Michigan defense in its 49 - 0 victory over USC in the 1948 Rose Bowl . He played every minute on defense until he was knocked unconscious by a kick to the head late in the second quarter . The kick reportedly left " a dent in his headgear as large as a man ' s fist . " Despite the injury , he returned to the game and played the second half . After the game , a newspaper account noted : " Everyone agreed following the Jan . 1 game that Quentin was the outstanding defensive lineman on the field and that seldom had such an excellent performance been given by a guard in the bowl encounter . That well did Quentin perform . . . . Sickels played like a ' mad man , ' and indeed he was , for he remembers nothing of the fray from his injury until midway through the last quarter . Quentin was rushing passers unmercifully , making innumerable tackles in the Southern California backfield . . . " 1948 season . As a senior , Sickels helped lead the 1948 Michigan Wolverines football team to its second consecutive undefeated , untied season and an undisputed national championship . After a 35 - 0 victory over Navy in November 1948 , " The Michigan Daily " selected Sickels as the lineman of the week . The paper noted : " Navy ' s game was just another contest for Sickels . He carried out his assignments with the same adeptness and fervor as in previous games . The Middies couldn ' t even trickle through his side of the line . " After concluding his football career at Michigan , Sickels was honored at a banquet in his hometown attended by several of his Michigan teammates . Coach Oosterbaan wrote of Sickels , " No coach could ever ask for a finer gentleman or a better player . " Later years and family . Sickels was selected by the Detroit Lions as the 147th pick in the 1948 NFL Draft , but he chose a career in business . As of 1950 , he was employed in Detroit by the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company . That same year , he was engaged to Gloria Mary Morrison of Detroit . The were married in February 1951 at the North Woodward Congregational Church in Detroit . They had three children , Quentin Brian , Jr . ( born c . 1953 ) , Lauren Brook ( born c . 1955 ) and Heather Ann ( born c . 1961 ) . From 1953 to 1958 , Sickels was employed in Florida ( two years in Orlando and three years in Miami ) by Corporate Groups Service , Inc . , an insurance company , as a vice president and general manager in charge of special workers ' compensation plans . In 1958 , Sickels returned to Detroit and became employed as a registered representative of Manley , Bennett & Company , a member of the New York Stock Exchange . He remained with that company at least through 1963 . In 1963 , Sickels was elected as the president of the University of Michigan ' s " M " Club .