George Christensen (American football)

George Washington "Tarzan" Christensen (December 13, 1909 – July 1, 1968) was an American football player and businessman. He played college football for the University of Oregon and professional football for the Portsmouth Spartans (1931–1933) and Detroit Lions (1934–1938). He later formed the Christensen Diamond Products Company, which became a publicly traded company manufacturing industrial, drilling and military equipment with plants in Europe, Asia, South America and North America.

For the Australian politician, see George Christensen.
George Christensen
Position:Tackle, Guard
Personal information
Born:(1909-12-13)December 13, 1909
Pendleton, Oregon
Died:July 1, 1968(1968-07-01) (aged 58)
Aspen, Colorado
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:238 lb (108 kg)
Career information
High school:Pendleton (OR)
College:Oregon
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:95
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Christensen was born in Pendleton, Oregon in 1909. He attended Pendleton Prep and Aberdeen Prep before enrolling at the University of Oregon.[1] He played college football as a tackle for the Oregon Ducks from 1928 to 1930. At the end of the 1930 season, Christensen was selected as an All-Pacific Coast player.[2] He also played for the Western All-Stars in the annual East-West Shrine Game.[3]

Professional football

Christensen played professional football in the National Football League for eight years for the Portsmouth Spartans (1931–1933) and the Detroit Lions (1934–1938). He started in 74 of 95 games that he played. He was selected as a first-team All-NFL player in 1931, 1933, 1934 and 1936, and a second-team All-NFL player in 1932 and 1935.[4] He was also the captain of the first Detroit Lions professional football team in 1934 and was a starter on the 1935 Detroit Lions team that won the 1935 NFL Championship Game.[5] Teammate Glenn Presnell recalled, "George Christensen was a good tackle, he weighed about 230 and was the biggest man on the team."[6]

In 1969, the Associated Press selected all-decade teams to commemorate the NFL's 30th anniversary. Christensen was named as one of five tackles on the All-1930s teams.[7]

In July 1939, Christensen was hired as the line coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers.[8]

Christensen is one of ten players that were named to the National Football League 1930s All-Decade Team that have not been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Christensen Diamond Products

After retiring from football, Christensen became employed by Koebel Diamond tools, which sold diamond tools to the automotive companies in Detroit.[9]

In 1944, Christensen went into business with his former teammate, Frank Christensen, to whom he was not related.[10] The two men began manufacturing diamond bits as the Christensen Diamond Products Company in Salt Lake City. George was responsible for procuring diamonds for the business, eventually negotiating a direct allocation from the DeBeers diamond syndicate.[11]

In 1946, the company introduced diamond core bits to the mining industry.[12] The company had a technological breakthrough in the late 1940s when it perfected a tungsten carbide matrix for diamond bits at an oil field in Colorado. The two men also formed Christensen Machine Company, which later became Hughes Christensen, to manufacture precision tools and gauges for military ordnance and radar.[12] In 1957 Christensen Diamond Products opened a manufacturing plant in Celle, West Germany to serve international markets. Eventually, the Christensens' operations became international with manufacturing plants in Canada, France, Germany, and Japan.[12]

Death

In 1968, he died at his home in Colorado of a heart attack at age 58.[13]

References
  1. "George Christensen". databaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-07.
  2. "Two Colleges Get Three Men on All-Pacific Coast Team". Christian Science Monitor. December 13, 1930.
  3. "Western Stars Hold First Workout For Game With East on Coast Dec. 27". The New York Times. December 19, 1930.
  4. "George Christensen". pro-football-reference.com.
  5. "Ex-Lion Dies". Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Michigan. July 3, 1968.
  6. Richard Whittingham, Keith McClellan (2002). What a Game They Played: An Inside Look at the Golden Era of Pro Football. University of Nebraska Press. p. 74.
  7. Mike Rathet (August 26, 1969). "Hutson, Herber Are Selected on All-1930s Football Team". Reading Eagle (AP story).
  8. "Dodgers Get New Line Coach". The New York Times. July 10, 1939.
  9. Thomas Derdak, Jay P. Pederson (1999). International Directory of Company Histories, vol. 26. St. James Press. p. 69.
  10. Bryce W. Anderson (October 17, 1948). "Industry of the Week: Football Pair Put Diamonds Into Oil Wells". The Deseret News.
  11. Charles W. Cheape (1985). Family Firm to Modern Multinational: Norton Company, a New England Enterprise. Harvard University Press. pp. 337–340. ISBN 0-674-29261-8.
  12. "Baker Hughes: 100 Years of Service". Baker Hughes. pp. 30–46. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17.
  13. "Former Lion Dies". the Pittsburgh Press. July 3, 1968.
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