Bob Chappuis

Robert Richard Chappuis (February 24, 1923 – June 14, 2012) was an American football player who played halfback and quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines in 1942, 1946, and 1947.

His college years were interrupted by service in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II.

Chappuis flew 21 missions as a radio operator and aerial gunner on B-25 bombers in the European Theater.

Chappuis played in nine games for Michigan as a sophomore in 1942, contributing 220 yards rushing, 358 yards passing, and 30 yards receiving.

In his first game as a college halfback, Chappuis completed seven of eighteen passes for a gain of 80 yards, and also rushed for 49 yards in a 9–0 win over the Great Lakes Naval Training Station.

Chappuis' predecessor as Michigan's halfback, Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon, completed seven passes in a single game only three times in three years, a feat accomplished by Chappuis in his first game.

Chappuis' college program was interrupted by military service from 1943 to 1945.

During World War II, Chappuis earned the rank of Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Forces.

He flew 21 missions as a radio operator and aerial gunner in B-25 bombers.

His crew sunk a cruiser in an Italian harbor, which earned it a citation in September 1944.

He flew his first mission, which was targeting a railroad bridge in the heavily fortified Brenner Pass on Christmas Day 1944.

At the time he flew this first mission, he was a sergeant.

His aircraft was shot down in February 1945 in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy.

Chappuis parachuted from the plane before it crashed, and Italian partisans rescued him by hiding Chappuis and two other crew members for the final three months of the war.

On February 13, 1945, Chappuis flew his 21st mission when he was assigned to fill in for a sick crew member.

Chappuis' B-25 bomber was assigned to bomb a railroad tunnel in the Italian mountains north of the Po River.

"Over the target, a burst of flak knocked out one engine, then the other engine went out. When the order came to bail out, the tailgunner went out first, and got stuck in the escape hatch, pinned against the rear of it by the wind pressure. Chappuis kicked him in the only accessible place—his head—and knocked him loose. Then he jumped."

Chappuis was rescued by an Italian partisan, Aldo Comucci, a 21-year-old who was in charge of one of the many underground groups operating in the area.

Comucci and his band of resistance fighters got to Chappuis before the Germans and hid him and two other American flyers from the same plane for nearly three months until the end of the war.

The partisans passed Chappuis and the two other Americans from house to house, and village to village, toward the Swiss frontier.

Dressed in shawls — but still wearing G.I. shoes — they once walked undetected past a German sentry.

Chappuis and his crewmates finally reached a home in the small town of Asola, Italy, in the Province of Mantua, Lombardy, about 80 mi from Milan.

The German headquarters was two houses away, and the drill grounds were across the street.

After the war, Chappuis returned to Michigan where he broke the Big Nine Conference record for total offense in 1946 and then broke his own record in 1947.

He led the 1947 Michigan team known as the "Mad Magicians" to an undefeated season and a 49–0 win over the USC Trojans in the 1948 Rose Bowl game.

Chappuis was a unanimous All-American selection in 1947 and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1948 Rose Bowl.

His picture appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1947 in connection with a feature article about Chappuis and the 1947 Wolverines.

He placed second in the 1947 Heisman Trophy balloting.

During his career he established many football records that lasted for over a generation and became an All-American.

He continues to hold the Big Ten Conference single-season passer rating record and the Michigan Wolverines single-season yards/completion records.

He was one of the early passing specialists in an era where football players were just beginning to either play on offense or defense instead of both.

Chappuis played professional football in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) as a quarterback for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Chicago Hornets in 1948 and 1949.

He led the Dodgers in total offense in 1948 with 1,402 yards passing and 310 yards rushing.

When both clubs and the AAFC folded, Chappuis retired from football in 1950.

He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988.

Chappuis was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, the son of Mary Ellen (née Burchell) and Sylvan Francis Chappuis.

His father—who had played quarterback for Denison University, which is located near Columbus, Ohio— was an executive with a porcelain products company in Toledo.

Chappuis graduated from DeVilbiss High School where he was a star football player.

When it came time to choose a college, his father said his only preference for his son was that he not attend Ohio State.

Chappuis could not provide much of an explanation for his father's preference: "Dad just didn't like Ohio State."