Don Bosseler was one of those notorious players, who was nicknamed “The Bull.” He had no qualms about using his physiques – a somewhat compact, although powerfully muscular at 6-1 and well over 210 pounds – to bowl over would be tacklers during his playing days as a fullback for the University of Miami, during the mid 1950s and for the eight years he spent playing in the NFL.
Miami Hurricanes All-American, first round NFL pick and College Football Hall of Fame member among other achievements, passed on Wednesday, surrounded by his family in Atlanta, as confirmed by his son Greg Bosseler to the Miami Herald. He was 88.
Bosseler, a native of Wethersfield New York, was a four-year letterman at fullback for the Miami Hurricanes from 1953 to 1956. He played his final year as a unanimous first team All-American with 723 yards rushing. Miami was 8-1-1 that year and ended the season ranked No. 6 in the country – its highest ranking until the improvement MIAMI SANK FROM NO. 15 at the end of the 1982 season to No. 21 about midseason 1983 on the way winning five national championships.
His 1,642 yards rushing ranked second in Hurricanes’ history of that time and only to Eddie Dunn who amassed 1,778 yards between 1936 and 1938. They are still ranked 21st in school history today, almost 70 years later.
Bosseler is a member of the UM Sports Hall of Fame since 1970, the College Football Hall of Fame since 1990 and the UM Ring of Honor since 1999.
“Frankly, my Dad bled orange and green,” Greg Bosseler used in email. “He had a wonderful times playing at the ‘U’ and he adopted Miami for almost sixty years.”
Again, Bosseler’s football career did not stop at college level but transferred to the NFL. Washington chose him in the first round of the next year’s NFL Draft with the ninth overall selection. Bosseler ran for 3,112 yards and 22 touchdowns in his play through 8 seasons and 96 games as a member of Washington. Prior to his retirement his rushing yards were the most in the Washington franchise history and to date only eleven players have 3,000 or more career rushing yards for the team.
After the season he scored a Pro Bowl bid following a 644 yards rushing, three touchdowns season.
