niuhuskies.com 155 huskie history retired jerseys 6 11 dave george PETZKE BORK SE | 1977-78 QB | 1960-63 In 1978, Dave Petzke made his No. 6 Northern Illinois University George Bork is still synonymous with the forward pass. football jersey one of the most famous in the land. America’s fi rst collegiate passer at any level of football to throw for At 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, Petzke was the master of the sideline 3,000 yards in a season, No. 11 graduated with at least 16 national curl pattern. His disciplined pass routes drew comparisons to National records. Even with an increasing emphasis on the passing game Football League great Raymond Berry. through the years, Bork still ranks among the all-division NCAA leaders In two seasons after transferring from Waldorf (Iowa) College, No. in single-game completions (43), single-season passing effi ciency 6 caught 148 career passes for 1,958 yards and 16 touchdowns. (156.2), and career passing effi ciency (141.8). As a junior, Petzke fi nished seventh in the nation with 57 catches The slender 6-foot-1, 178-pound crew cut quarterback put coach for 743 yards in 1977. A year later, he led the major college ranks with Howard Fletcher’s Huskies on the map. The two-time fi rst team Little a school and then Mid-American Conference record 91 receptions for All-American led Northern Illinois to its fi rst 10-0-0 season, a Mineral 1,215 yards and 11 TDs. Water Bowl triumph, and the College Division national title in 1963. Petzke won the 1978 NCAA Division 1-A receiving title by 29 As a senior, the Mount Prospect, Ill., and Arlington High School catches. At the time, only three other players in the game’s history product completed 244-of-374 passes for 3,077 yards and 32 — Tulsa’s Howard Twilley (134), Brigham Young’s Jay Miller (100), and touchdowns. Bork repeated as NCAA College Division passing and total Idaho’s Jerry Hendren (95)—had caught more passes in one season. offense leader (1962-63). He played in the North-South Shrine Game He still owns the Huskie school records for most receptions per and the Challenge Bowl with teammate Hugh Rohrschneider. game in a season (8.3) and in a career (6.7) and his six 100-yard He still owns at least 17 NIU passing records, including completions receiving games in 1978 tie him with Justin McCareins for the single (season and career), passing yards (season and career), touchdown season school record in that category. His 91 catches in 1978 are 14 passes (game, season and career) and passing effi ciency (game and more than any other player in NIU history. career). The Faribault, Minn., product received the school’s highest major- Bork was inducted into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1983. college gridiron accolade by making third team Associated Press All- His No. 11 jersey was retired at halftime vs. Western Illinois on Sept. America as a senior. 7, 1996. Bork gained entry into the National Football Foundation’s In 1987, he was inducted into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame. College Football Hall of Fame in 1999. PETZKE’S CAREER HONORS AND AWARDS BORK’S CAREER HONORS AND AWARDS Third Team Associated Press All-America, 1978 Honorable Mention Associated Press and UPI All-America, 1963 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, 1978 First Team Little All-America, 1962 and 1963 All-Mid American Conference, 1978 First Team All-Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, 1962 NCAA Statistical Champion (Receiving Yards), 1978 and 1963 MAC Statistical Champion (Receiving), 1978 Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Northern Illinois Most Valuable Player, 1977 1962 and 1963 Can-Am Game, 1978 Northern Illinois Most Valuable Player, 1962 and 1963 Northern Illinois University Athletics Hall of Fame, 1987 NCAA Statistical Champion (Total Offense and Passing), 1962 and 1963 PETZKE’S CAREER STATISTICS Placed in Heisman Trophy balloting, 1963 Mineral Water Bowl Most Outstanding Back, 1963 Year Rec. Yds. Avg. TD Challenge Bowl and North-South Shrine Bowl, 1963 1977 57 743 13.0 5 Northern Illinois University Athletics Hall of Fame, 1983 1978 91 1,215 13.4 11 College Football Hall of Fame, 1999 Total 148 1,958 13.2 16 BORK’S CAREER STATISTICS Year Att. Comp. Pct. Yds. TD 1960 51 29 56.8 358 2 1961 121 72 59.4 841 4 1962 356 232 65.2 2,506 22 1963 374 244 65.2 3,077 32 Total 902 577 64.0 6,782 60 156 niuhuskies.com huskie history retired jerseys 12 31 bob mark HEIMERDINGER KELLAR QB | 1948-51 FB | 1971-73 When you talk about great Northern Illinois University quarterbacks, Northern Illinois University fullback Mark Kellar ran in the same Bob Heimerdinger has a place at the top of the list. circles as Tony Dorsett, Archie Griffi n, John Cappelletti, and other great The 5-foot-9, 160-pound Heimerdinger—better known as the backs of his day. “Huskie humdinger” in those days (1948-51)—authored a long list of His running style might be compared to a runaway, 100-car Northern Illinois “fi rsts.” freight train. The only thing that successfully derailed Kellar was an “Heimer” became the school’s fi rst national statistical champion appendectomy his sophomore year. He missed two games and still — winning the College Division total offense crown in both 1950 (1,782 netted 710 ground yards in 1971. yards) and 1951 (1,775 yards). As a senior, he led the Huskies to a 9- People nicknamed him the “Carpentersville Cruncher” or “Baby 0-0 record, the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Association title, and Bull” for good reason. As a junior, his 1,316 yards ranked sixth in the a bid to the then-Tangerine Bowl. NCAA. The Riverside-Brookfi eld High School product was Mr. Versatility. As a senior, the six-foot, 232-pounder bulldozed for 1,719 yards Throw the ball? No. 12 topped the nation in passing yardage (1,710) and 16 touchdowns on 291 carries to capture the 1973 NCAA Division and touchdown strikes (16) in 1949. Run? His 78-yard TD rush vs. I-A rushing championship. He beat national runner-up Dorsett by 133 Nebraska-Omaha in 1949 still ranks among the 14 longest in school yards and Griffi n by 291 more that fall. Kellar produced three 200-yard history. Punt? Who do you think rated ninth in the country at 38.3 yards plus rushing games, made four honorable mention All-America squads, per kick in 1951? was named to the United Press International National Backfi eld of the Nearly 60 years later, Heimerdinger still ranks at the top of several Week twice, and played in the North-South Shrine Game in 1973. NIU passing categories and still owns the Huskie marks for yards per No. 31 concluded his Huskie career with 3,745 yards, 743 completion in a season and a career. attempts, 33 TDs, and 20 100-yard rushing games. He was the 18th Inducted into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1983, “Heimer” player in the history of major-college football to crack the 3,000-yard was the fi rst player to have his jersey retired in 1951. barrier. Most of Kellar’s records were intact until the last fi ve years and he HEIMERDINGER’S CAREER HONORS AND AWARDS remains one of the most prolifi c fullbacks in NCAA history. Honorable Mention Associated Press All-America, 1948 and 1951 Kellar’s jersey was retired in ceremonies after his fi nal home game First Team All-Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, 1949, vs. Western Illinois (11-3-73) and placed in a time capsule buried near 1950 and 1951 Altgeld Hall. He was enshrined into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame in NCAA Statistical Champion (Total Offense), 1950 and 1951 1983. First Team Little All-American, 1951 Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year, KELLAR’S CAREER HONORS AND AWARDS 1951 AP, UPI, Kodak and Football News Honorable Mention All-American, Northern Illinois Most Valuable Player, 1951 1973 Northern Illinois University Athletics Hall of Fame, 1951 NCAA Statistical Champion (Rushing), 1973 North-South Shrine Game, 1973 HEIMERDINGER’S CAREER STATISTICS National Backfi eld of the Week Honoree, 1973 Northern Illinois Most Valuable Player, 1971, 1972 and 1973 Year Att. Comp. Pct. Yds. TD 1949 115 45 39.1 841 9 KELLAR’S CAREER STATISTICS 1950 210 102 48.6 1,597 13 1951 225 103 45.8 1,710 16 Year No. Yds. Avg. TD Total 550 250 45.5 4,148 38 1971 168 710 4.2 7 1972 285 1,316 4.6 9 1973 291 1,719 5.9 16 Total 744 3,745 5.0 32 niuhuskies.com 157 huskie history college football hall of famers george BORK tom BECK QB, 1960-63 QB/HB, 1959-61 Inducted in 1999 Inducted in 2004 It was akin to one of his many spiral The man known as the last and probably passes. Another George Bork classic. the fi nest 60-minute, two-way player in For the iconic Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University history became quarterback of the 1960s, a dream came the school’s second alum to be enshrined true in August 1999, when Bork became into the College Football Hall of Fame in the fi rst Huskie enshrined in the National August 2004. Football Foundation’s College Football Hall A double Northern Illinois graduate of Fame. (1962 and 1967), Beck joined former More than 40 years after his last collegiate pass, Bork’s name Huskie teammate and fellow Little All-American selection George Bork still dominates the passing section in the Huskie record book, and he in the College Football Hall of Fame.