🇺🇸 Most Badass Football Players: Combat Veterans Edition #9 Bob Kalsu
Bob Kalsu, the 1968 Buffalo Bills team Rookie of the Year, was one badass football player.
Born April 13, 1945, in Oklahoma City, Kalsu grew into a powerful 6-foot-3, 250-pound force on the offensive line.
At the University of Oklahoma he earned All-American honors as a tackle and helped lead the Sooners to a 10-1 record and a win in the Orange Bowl.
The Buffalo Bills selected him in the eighth round of the 1968 AFL draft.
By the end of his rookie season he had started nine games at right guard and was named the team’s Rookie of the Year.
Kalsu had completed ROTC at Oklahoma and carried a service obligation. Many people urged him to seek a deferment.
He had just married his wife Jan and they already had a young daughter with another child on the way.
Kalsu refused.
He told those around him that he had made a commitment to his country and that he was no better than anyone else.
After the 1968 season he entered the Army as a second lieutenant.
He arrived in Vietnam in November 1969 and was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division as an artillery officer with the 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery. He was quickly promoted to first lieutenant.
By the summer of 1970 Kalsu found himself in the middle of one of the most intense battles of the war: the siege of Fire Support Base Ripcord near the A Shau Valley.
For 23 days American forces on the isolated hilltop base came under sustained attack from North Vietnamese Army units. The fighting featured constant mortar and rocket fire, infantry probes, and brutal artillery exchanges.
On July 21, 1970, during one of the final days of the battle, Kalsu was with his artillery unit when the base came under another mortar attack.
Word reached him that a damaged helicopter was attempting an emergency landing with enemy troops in close pursuit.
Kalsu left his bunker to warn the soldiers under his command.
An 82mm mortar round exploded nearby, killing him instantly at age 25.
Two days later his wife Jan gave birth to their son, Bob Jr.
Kalsu never met him.
He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star.
Kalsu's name is located at Panel 8W, Line 38 on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Bob Kalsu is an American Badass.
Thank you, Lieutenant! 🫡🇺🇸
🇺🇸 Most Badass Football Players: Combat Veterans Edition #10 Al Blozis
Al Blozis, member of the 1940s NFL All-Decade Team for the NY Giants, was one badass football player.
Born in 1919 in Garfield, New Jersey, Blozis was an absolute physical specimen at 6'6" and around 260 pounds, a giant for his time.
He starred at Georgetown University in both football and track & field, even setting a world record in the shot put.
The New York Giants drafted him in 1942, and he quickly became one of the best offensive tackles in the NFL.
He played the full 1942 and 1943 seasons with the Giants, earning All-Pro honors.
Because of his extreme height, Blozis initially faced restrictions when trying to enlist. He persistently fought for a waiver until the Army finally accepted him on December 9, 1943.
While stationed stateside in late 1944, he secured a brief military furlough to play three final games for the Giants, which includes the 1944 NFL Championship Game, before deploying to Europe as a second lieutenant with the 28th Infantry Division.
On January 31, 1945, while fighting in the Vosges Mountains of France, two soldiers from Blozis’ unit went missing during a heavy snowstorm.
Despite dangerous conditions, Blozis volunteered to search for them.
He was killed by German machine gun fire during the search.
His remains were later recovered, and he is buried at the Lorraine American Cemetery in France.
He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star.
After the war, the New York Giants retired Al Blozis’ #32 in honor of his service and sacrifice.
He remains one of the most respected figures in Giants history, not only for his dominance on the field, but for choosing to fight when he could have stayed home.
Al Blozis is an American Badass.
Thank you, Lieutenant! 🫡🇺🇸