Ted Fritsch
The Bull
Ted Fritsch was one of the stars of the Green Bay Packers in the 1940s. He didn’t play football in high school but did play football and basketball at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. The Packers picked him up as a free agent rookie in 1942 and he led the Packers in rushing with 323 yards (they only played 11 games in a regular season then) that year.
He stayed in Green Bay his entire 9-year career, though he came very close to playing with the Cleveland Browns of the AAFC. He played fullback, linebacker, kicker and kick returner. During the 1944 NFL Title game against the Giants he scored both touchdowns in 14-7 win. In 1946 he led the league in scoring with 100 points and was named All-Pro. In addition to his career in the NFL he also spent time playing in briefly with pro basketball and baseball teams.
Ted Fritsch left football after the 1950 season and coached on the high school level. He passed away in 1979 from a heart attack. His son, Ted Fritsch Jr. played 7 seasons in the NFL as a center for the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins.
Image Gallery of Ted Fritsch, Fullback Green Bay Packers 1942-1950
Ted Fritsch Career Totals
| Rushing | Receiving | Totals | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Team | # | Games | Carries | Yards | Y/A | Long | TD | Catches | Yards | Y/R | Long | TD | Touches | Y/Tch | YScm | Total TDs |
| 1942 | 22 | GNB | 64 | 11 | 74 | 323 | 4.4 | 55 | 0 | 9 | 60 | 6.7 | 31 | 0 | 83 | 4.6 | 383 | 0 |
| 1943 | 23 | GNB | 64 | 10 | 54 | 169 | 3.1 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 55 | 27.5 | 32 | 0 | 56 | 4.0 | 224 | 4 |
| 1944 | 24 | GNB | 64 | 9 | 94 | 322 | 3.4 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1.7 | 13 | 0 | 97 | 3.4 | 327 | 4 |
| 1945 | 25 | GNB | 64 | 10 | 89 | 282 | 3.2 | 31 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 9 | 0 | 92 | 3.2 | 295 | 7 |
| 1946+ | 26 | GNB♚ | 64 | 11 | 128 | 444 | 3.5 | 32 | 9♦ | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 12 | 1 | 130 | 3.5 | 457 | 10♦ |
| 1947 | 27 | GNB | 64 | 12 | 68 | 247 | 3.6 | 48 | 6 | 0 | 68 | 3.6 | 247 | 6 | ||||
| 1948 | 28 | GNB | 64 | 12 | 37 | 173 | 4.7 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 4.7 | 173 | 0 | ||||
| 1949 | 29 | GNB | 64 | 12 | 69 | 227 | 3.3 | 27 | 1 | 6 | 81 | 13.5 | 35 | 0 | 75 | 4.1 | 308 | 1 |
| 1950 | 30 | GNB | 64 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 1.9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1.9 | 13 | 0 | ||||
| 9 Year NFL Career | 99 | 620 | 2200 | 3.5 | 55 | 31 | 25 | 227 | 9.1 | 35 | 1 | 645 | 3.8 | 2427 | 32 | |||
| Field Goals & Xtra Points | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Team | Pos | # | Games | FGA | FGM | Long | FG% | XPA | XPM | XP% |
| 1942 | 22 | GNB | FB | 64 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 80.0% | 1 | 1 | 100.0% | |
| 1943 | 23 | GNB | FB | 64 | 10 | 2 | 0.0% | |||||
| 1945 | 25 | GNB | FB | 64 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 37.5% | ||||
| 1946+ | 26 | GNB | FB | 64 | 11 | 17 | 9 | 52.9% | 15 | 13 | 86.7% | |
| 1947 | 27 | GNB | FB | 64 | 12 | 13 | 6 | 46.2% | 2 | 2 | 100.0% | |
| 1948 | 28 | GNB | FB | 64 | 12 | 16 | 6 | 37.5% | 6 | 5 | 83.3% | |
| 1949 | 29 | GNB | FB | 64 | 12 | 20 | 5 | 25.0% | 13 | 11 | 84.6% | |
| 1950 | 30 | GNB | FB | 64 | 12 | 17 | 3 | 17.6% | 33 | 30 | 90.9% | |
| 9-Year NFL Career | 99 | 98 | 36 | 52 | 36.7% | 70 | 62 | 88.6% | ||||
| Interceptions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Team | Pos | # | Games | Int | Yards | Long | TD |
| 1944 | 24 | GNB | FB | 64 | 9 | 6 | 115 | 50 | 1 |
| 1945 | 25 | GNB | FB | 64 | 10 | 1 | 69 | 69 | 1 |
| 1946+ | 26 | GNB | FB | 64 | 11 | 1 | 15 | 15 | 0 |
| 1947 | 27 | GNB | FB | 64 | 12 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| 1948 | 28 | GNB | FB | 64 | 12 | 1 | 52 | 52 | 0 |
| 1949 | 29 | GNB | FB | 64 | 12 | 0 | |||
| Career | 99 | 10 | 263 | 69 | 2 | ||||
| Punt Returns | Kick Returns | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Team | Pos | # | Games | Returns | Yards | TD | Long | Y/R | Returns | Yards | TD | Long | Y/Rt | APYd |
| 1942 | 22 | GNB | FB | 64 | 11 | 1 | 31 | 0 | 31 | 31.0 | 2 | 43 | 0 | 23 | 21.5 | 457 |
| 1943 | 23 | GNB | FB | 64 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 99 | 0 | 32 | 24.8 | 323 | ||||
| 1944 | 24 | GNB | FB | 64 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 288 | 0 | 44 | 26.2 | 730 | ||||
| 1945 | 25 | GNB | FB | 64 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 279 | 0 | 79 | 34.9 | 643 | ||||
| 1946+ | 26 | GNB | FB | 64 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 68 | 0 | 37 | 22.7 | 531 | ||||
| 1947 | 27 | GNB | FB | 64 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 100 | 0 | 25 | 20.0 | 359 | ||||
| 1948 | 28 | GNB | FB | 64 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 17.0 | 250 | ||||
| 1949 | 29 | GNB | FB | 64 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 0 | 23 | 23.0 | 331 | ||||
| 1950 | 30 | GNB | FB | 64 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 0 | 19 | 17.0 | 47 | ||||
| Career | 99 | 1 | 31 | 0 | 31 | 31.0 | 37 | 951 | 0 | 79 | 25.7 | 3671 | ||||
| Punting | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | Pos | # | Games | Punts | Yards | Y/P | Long | Blocked |
| 1942 | 22 | GNB | FB | 64 | 11 | 3 | 122 | 40.7 | 54 | 0 |
| 1943 | 23 | GNB | FB | 64 | 10 | 5 | 151 | 30.2 | 47 | 0 |
| 1944 | 24 | GNB | FB | 64 | 9 | 10 | 408 | 40.8 | 54 | 0 |
| 1946+ | 26 | GNB | FB | 64 | 11 | 1 | 52 | 52.0 | 52 | 0 |
| Career | 99 | 19 | 733 | 38.6 | 54 | 0 | ||||
Ted Fritsch Post Season All-Time Totals
| Rushing | Receiving | Totals | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | Pos | G | Rush | Yds | Y/A | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Y/R | Lng | TD | Touch | Y/Tch | YScm | RRTD |
| 1944 | 24 | GNB♚ | 1 | 17 | 58 | 3.4 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 26.0 | 26 | 1 | 18 | 4.7 | 84 | 2 | |
| Post Season Totals | 1 | 17 | 58 | 3.4 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 26.0 | 26 | 1 | 18 | 4.7 | 84 | 2 | |||
| Punting | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Team | Pos | Games | Punts | Yards | Y/P | Long | Blocked |
| 1944 | 24 | GNB | FB | 1 | 5 | 193 | 38.6 | 51 | 0 |
| Post Season Totals | FB | 1 | 5 | 193 | 38.6 | 51 | 0 | ||
- + – All-Pro Selection
- ♦ – Led the League
- ♚ – NFL Champion
For some good additional reading:
- Ted Fritsch at Pro Football Reference
- Ted Fritsch Takes on the Bears
- Ted Fritsch at Packers.com
- A Special Thanks to Profootball Journal and Packers History for sharing their images
