Don Durdan

Donald Edgar Durdan (September 21, 1920 – June 28, 1971) was an American professional football and basketball player. He played collegiately for the Oregon State Beavers.

Early life Durdan was born in Arcata, California and attended Eureka High School, where he played running back on the high school football team. In 1935, Durdan's team was not only undefeated, but they did not allow their opponents to score a single point.

Durdan went on to Oregon State University, where he started in baseball, basketball, and football, and was a member of Pacific Coast Conference championship teams in each sport. He was named an All-American in basketball in his senior year of 1943.

Rose Bowl MVP In 1941, the Beavers football team won the Pacific Coast Conference and a berth in the 1942 Rose Bowl against the undefeated Duke Blue Devils. With the United States' entry into World War II, concern about a Japanese attack on the West Coast brought a relocation of the game to Duke's home stadium in Durham, North Carolina. In spite of the fact that Duke was favored by two touchdowns, the Beavers pulled off a major upset, winning 20–16. Durdan, who showed his all-around skill by rushing for 54 yards and a touchdown, passing, and punting, was named the game's most valuable player. After the war, Durdan signed with the San Francisco 49ers in 1946, where he played halfback as well as defensive back for one full season and part of a second in 1947.

In addition to playing professional football, Durdan also played professional basketball for the Portland Indians of the Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League. The league lasted just two seasons (1946–47 and 1947–48), but Durdan's Indians won the best-of-five league championship in 1948 over the rival Seattle Athletics.

Personal In 1946, Durdan married Maxine DeMoss, sister of Oregon golf champion Grace DeMoss (another DeMoss sister married Durdan's Rose Bowl teammate Quentin Greenough). Following his sports career, Durdan became a funeral director in his wife's family's funeral home business in Corvallis, Oregon. and in 1988, to both the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame and the Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame.