| No. 14, 16 | |||||||||
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| Position: | End/Tackle | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | April 6, 1914 Miami, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | June 23, 1981 (aged 67) | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 218 lb (99 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Miami (FL) | ||||||||
| College: | Vanderbilt | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1937 / Round: 3 / Pick: 28 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||
Herbert Gustave "Dick" Plasman (April 6, 1914 – June 23, 1981) was a professional American football player who played running back for eight seasons for the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals. He is notably the last player in the NFL to play a game without a helmet.[1]
Plasman was drafted by the Bears in the third round of the 1937 NFL Draft.[2] On November 6, 1938, he crashed into Wrigley Field's brick wall during a home game against the Green Bay Packers, suffering a severe scalp laceration, three fractured ribs, a broken wrist, and a fractured arm.[3] There were concerns about him ever playing again due to the wrist and arm injuries. However, he recovered and continued to not wear a helmet -- as he did in the 1940 NFL Championship game on December 8, 1940 and Chicago's 1941 NFL Championship game victory on December 21, 1941, two weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.[3] Plasman entered the Air Force in July 1942 and thus missed the 1942 and 1943 seasons, but returned for the 1944 season -- when he was forced to wear a helmet due to the new NFL helmet rule.[3]
"Ferocious on his blocks, a great pass rusher and a receiver, too. The guy was terrific, a force out there. He was worthy of the Hall of Fame".[4]