Associated Press
This undated photo provided by the University of Kansas shows Otto Schnellbacher in Lawrence. Schnellbacher, who was captain of both the basketball and football team at KU and went on to play for the New York Giants as well as in the NBA, has died.
LAWRENCE | Kansas lost a legend on Monday when Otto Schnellbacher, one of the greatest athletes in school history, died of cancer at the age of 84.
Schnellbacher was a football and basketball standout at KU before playing both sports professionally. Known as the “Double Threat from Sublette,” he was an All-America selection as a wide receiver in leading the Jayhawks to the Orange Bowl in 1947.
In basketball, Schnellbacher is one of just three KU players to make the all-conference team four times.
“He did so much for KU in so many ways that didn’t garner recognition,” KU basketball coach Bill Self said on Monday. “He was a Jayhawk through and through. He’ll be missed very much.”
Asked if he knew Schnellbacher, Self said, “Everybody knows Otto if you work at KU.”
Schnellbacher was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL in 1947 and by the New York Yankees of the All America Football Conference in 1948. He played the ’48 and ’49 seasons with the Yankees and then joined the NFL’s New York Giants in 1950 and ’51, earning all-pro honors as a defensive back both seasons.
Schnellbacher spent the 1948-49 basketball season in the NBA with the St. Louis Bombers and the Providence Steamrollers.
Schnellbacher was born April 15, 1923 in Sublette, Kan.