don bosseler

A Batavia High School legend, died Wednesday in Atlanta at age 88.

Bossler, a fullback, played seven seasons with the Washington Redskins, amassing 3,112 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns. He was drafted by the Redskins in the ninth pick of the first round of the 1957 draft.

He was heavily recruited coming out of Batavia HS and was a four-year starter at the University of Miami.  In his senior year, MIami finished 8-1-1 and the team was ranked sixth in the nation.  He is a member Batavia High School Athletic Hall of Fame, the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, and the College Football Hall of Fame.

He rushed for 1,642 yards at Miami. He was a first team all-American in 1956 (Jim Brown and Johnny Majors were also in that backfield) and was named MVP of the Senior Bowl when he ran for 187 yards. 

While at Miami, one sports writer referred to him as "The Batavia Bulldozer."

R-News has an interesting piece about Don Bosseler today.

Bosseler attended Batavia High School in the 1950s, and in 1957 he was a first-round draft pick of the Washington Redskins.  R-News says that makes him the highest ever NFL draft pick from the Rochester area.

"It was one of the better classes I can remember," says Bosseler of the 1957 draft. The facts back that up.

1957 produced nine Pro Football Hall of Famers. Paul Hornung, Len Dawson, Jim Brown and Jim Parker were taken before Bosseler; Tommy McDonald, Sonny Jurgensen, Henry Jordan, Don Maynard and Gene Hickerson afterwards.

Bosseler was no slouch. He played eight seasons for the Redskins and retired in 1964 as the franchise leader in rushing yards.

Bosseler was on the "70 Greatest Redskins" list celebrating the team's 70th anniversary in 2002. Don knew the game. He had to, rooming with the likes of Don Shula, Joe Walton and Tom Osborne.

According to Pro-Football Reference, Bosseler scored 23 touch downs (22 rushing) in his career.  His best season was probably his rookie year when he scored 7 times and gained 673 yards.