OL Robert Momsen (official thread)

[BB73]

Kurt Schumacher, an All-American offensive tackle that went to 3 Rose Bowls under Woody during ' the Archie years', has been elected to Ohio State's Athletic Hall of Fame. There will be an public induction ceremony during halftime of the San Diego State football game on September 17.

Bob Momsen, another All-American tackle who played in the famous 1950 Snow Bowl, was also selected. A total of 12 athletes in several sports will be honored.

official.site.

Ohio State Varsity O Association Announces Hall of Fame Inductees


Seven men, five women comprise 2005 class



July 14, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio ­- The Ohio State Varsity "O" Association will induct 12 members into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame the weekend of Sept. 16-17. The class will be officially inducted in two separate ceremonies Friday and introduced to the public at halftime of the San Diego State-Ohio State football game Saturday in Ohio Stadium. A total of 64 women have been inducted since 1993 and 217 men have been honored since 1977.
The 2005 class includes: Women-Gabriele Jobst (volleyball), Audrey DiPronio (volleyball), Peggy Palumbo (field hockey, basketball), Laura Profumo (diving) and Stacia Goff (swimming); Men-Richard Castillo (soccer), Artie Wolfe (swimming), Patrick Jeffrey (diving), Steve Groves (golf), Kurt Schumacher (football), Bob Momsen (football) and Jamie Macoun (hockey).

Kurt Schumacher - Football (1971-74)
Two-year starter at left tackle on teams that posted 14-1-1 record in conference play while winning two Big Ten championships and playing in three Rose Bowls ... First-Team All-America left tackle in 1974 ... two-time First-Team All-Big Ten selection (1973-74) as an offensive lineman ... a first-round draft choice of the New Orleans Saints in the 1975 NFL Draft.

Bob Momsen - Football (1950)
First-Team All-American as a tackle in 1950 ... recovered a fumble to set up first score of the famous 1950 "Snow Bowl" between Ohio State and Michigan ... scored a safety against Pittsburgh ... recovered a fumble to set up Ohio State's 10th touchdown of the game in 83-21 drubbing of Iowa ... letterwinner in 1950 ... drafted in the seventh round of the 1951 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.

 

[BB73]

Here's part of an article from BN with an interview with Momsen right after his being named to tOSU's athletic Hall of Fame.

scout
Twelve members will be inducted into the 2005 class of the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame.

The class will be officially inducted by the Ohio State Varsity “O” Association in two separate ceremonies on Friday, Sept. 16. They will also be introduced to the public at halftime of the San Diego State-Ohio State football game on Saturday, Sept. 17, in Ohio Stadium.

A total of 64 women have been inducted since 1993 and 217 men have been honored since 1977.

Of the 12 new members, two are former Buckeye football players: Left tackle Kurt Schumacher (1971-74) and two-way lineman Bob Momsen (1949-50).

Schumacher was unable to attend the announcement on Thursday, but we did track down Momsen who had some interesting takes as he looked back on his football career.

“First of all, I feel very blessed and lucky to get in,” Momsen said. “There’s been a lot of great athletes that have played here and I feel fortunate to get this honor.”

Momsen played for head coach Wes Fesler at Ohio State and was named All-American in ’50.

In 1949, the Buckeyes went 7-2-1. In 1950, they went 6-3, including the 9-3 loss to Michigan in the Snow Bowl.

The ’50 season served as Fesler’s final season at OSU. Someone named Woody Hayes would take over the following season.

Also in ’50, the multi-faceted Vic Janowicz won the Heisman Trophy.

“I played with a lot of good football players,” Momsen said. “There was an offensive center named Bob McCullough that became an All-American the same year I did. Five years before us, there wasn’t any All-Americans. I think with Janowicz winning the Heisman award as a junior and us playing with him made quite a difference.”

Momsen enjoyed playing for Fesler.

“Fesler was a great coach and we won a lot of games,” he said. “We were ranked second in the country a couple of times and we were ranked first in defense for at least four games of 1950. In fact, in the first four games, teams only averaged five yards on the ground against us. So, we were a pretty good defense.”

Momsen was selected in the seventh round by the Detroit Lions in the 1951 NFL draft.

“I played three years in the NFL,” he said. “One with Detroit and two with the San Francisco 49ers.”

The 6-2 Momsen was considered a huge player in his day.

“I was the same weight I am now: I played at 237 pounds in the pros,” he said. “But when I played at Ohio State, I weighed about 220. And that was pretty big, believe it or not. Now, I couldn’t even be a linebacker, probably.”

And make no mistake about it: Momsen was a tough guy. He enjoyed inflicting pain.

“I guess they said that I was one of the guys that… I really competed,” he said. “I loved football; I loved to play it. I’ve always said the best tackle of the game was when we went down on a kick or punt and someone else had the guy by the ankle, hanging, and I got to hit him. I would just crack ‘em and knock ‘em out.

“And I don’t think I could play in the pros anymore. Because when we would hit the quarterback, we’d throw this arm over the right shoulder, this arm under the left and hit him in the face with our head. You know, that is what we tried to do, because they were the passers and things. It would just be tough to play and not be able to hit a quarterback, I would think.

“One of the great compliments I ever got was when I was playing in the pros and Chuck Bednarik told me that I had the strongest upper body of anyone he had played against. And of course he went on to become the iron man of the NFL.”

Following his professional career, Momsen returned to his hometown of Toledo and decided to become a head football coach.

“I coached at Libbey, Waite and Macomber high schools, all three,” he said. “I coached at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. And guess who introduced me as a head coach? Red Grange. That was really something.

“The registrar there had a big cottage on Spider Lake and was wealthy. And he would invite Red Grange and his group up to hunt. Well, they wouldn’t really hunt, they would play poker and drink. But the Indians would get them a deer so they could take it back to Chicago with them.”

 

[jlb1705]

Bob Momsen has passed away.

JeffSvoboda
Sad news: got an email from the Lucas County Alumni Club reporting the death of 1950 OSU football All-American Bob Momsen. about 5 hours ago via web

 

[Buckskin86]

Article published May 30, 2010
ROBERT EDWARD MOMSEN, 1929-2010
Coach, educator lauded as a mentor

Robert Edward Momsen, a retired Toledo Public Schools science teacher and high school football coach who was an All-American nose guard at Ohio State University before playing in the NFL, died Tuesday at St. Luke's Hospital. He would have turned 81 on Friday.

Family members said he had been in failing health from multiple ailments.

A native Toledoan, Mr. Momsen had a spectacular football career of his own before coaching at his alma mater, Libbey High School, and later Waite High School and the former Macomber High School.

As a youth, he was an All-City and All-Ohio football player at Libbey, and also gained All-City honors for the Cowboys on the basketball court. On graduating in 1947 he went on to Ohio State, where he played on the Buckeyes' 1949 Big Ten co-championship team and in their Rose Bowl win over California on Jan. 2, 1950.

Mr. Momsen also played in the famous Nov. 25, 1950, "Snow Bowl" matchup between OSU and the University of Michigan in Columbus during a blizzard. His elder brother, Tony, also played that miserably cold day, but for the Wolverines. It was a day the Momsen family allegiances were divided.

"His dad was rooting for his brother, and his mother was rooting for him," his daughter, Jennifer Lagger, said lightheartedly.

His senior year, Mr. Momsen received first-team All-American honors from the Football Writers Association of America. He graduated in 1951, and that year he was a seventh-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions.

Mr. Momsen was a second-team all-pro choice during his only season with the Lions. He was traded and played two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers before hanging up his cleats.

He turned to coaching, first at Northland College in Wisconsin, returning to Toledo in 1954 to coach football and teach at Libbey.

He was the Cowboys head coach from 1956 until 1961. His main subjects in the classroom were physics and biology, his daughter said.

"His big goal was to get his players college scholarships," Mrs. Lagger said. "Many became teachers and coaches too."

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