Former MU football star Andrie dies
George Andrie is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest football players in Marquette University's history.
The school dropped football after Andrie's junior season in 1960, but he still found his way to the NFL and played on the Dallas Cowboys' legendary "Doomsday Defense."
Andrie died Tuesday at 78 in Woodway, Texas. His daughter, Mary Brooks, told the Dallas Morning News that Andrie died of congestive heart failure. He also battled dementia in recent years.
Andrie was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1940. He was a standout, twoway football player for Catholic Central High School and chose to attend MU, where his brother Stan was a guard on the football team in the early 1950s.
Andrie was usually on the field for the entire game for the then-Warriors. He played tight end on offense and end on defense.
In those days, the tight end often lined up in the backfield as a slot back.
"I was the tallest back in the country," Andrie remembered to the Milwaukee Journal in 1979. "They listed me as 6-7, but I wasn't that tall. I was 6-6 and weighed about 225."
Although MU went 3-6 in Andrie's junior season, optimism was high for
the next year with all the returning talent.
But MU's athletic department was in debt and in December 1960 chose not to field football, track and cross-country teams.
It was a decision that always rankled Andrie.
"The more you found out, the more you kind of resented what they did," Andrie told the Journal Sentinel in 2010. "They said 'We are going to take away part of your scholarship.' That really pissed me off. It was a mess, a true mess. It really left a bad taste in my mouth."
Andrie almost played his last season of college football at Tulsa but decided to re-enroll at MU to remain with his future wife, Mary Lou. He played intramural basketball and worked out religiously to stay in shape.
Legendary Cowboys executive Gil Brandt, a Milwaukee native, made the
shrewd move of drafting Andrie in the sixth round in 1962.
He played defensive end for the Cowboys
and - along with Bob Lilly, Jethro Pugh and Willie Townes — formed the line of the "Doomsday Defense" in the first golden age of professional football in Dallas.
Andrie played 11 seasons with the Cowboys, making five Pro Bowls and helping the Cowboys win Super Bowl VI.
Andrie scored one of Dallas' two touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers during the famous "Ice Bowl" in the 1967 NFL championship game.
After Townes forced a fumble by Packers quarterback Bart Starr, Andrie scooped it up and ran 7 yards for the Cowboys' first score with 4:14 left in the first half. The Packers eventually prevailed, 21-17.
Andrie retired from the NFL in 1972. He eventually settled in Waco, Texas, and worked in the beer-distribution business. He later started a specialty advertising firm.
Andrie's health declined in recent years. His family believed playing football helped cause Andrie's dementia and Brooks detailed with several media outlets the trouble they had trying to be a part of the NFL's concussion settlement.
Andrie is survived by Mary Lou and their seven children.