Hal Hanson

Harold Walter Hanson (August 10, 1905 – September 29, 1977) was an American football guard. He played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers from 1925 to 1927, winning All-America honors in 1927. He was one of eleven players selected to Minnesota's all-century team in 1949. He also played for the Frankford Yellow Jackets of the National Football League (NFL) from 1928 to 1930, appearing in a total of 51 NFL games.

Early life Hanson was born in 1905 in Stewart, Minnesota.

As a senior, Hanson was a member of the undefeated 1927 Minnesota team that won the Big Ten Conference championship. He was regarded as "the best guard ever turned out at Minnesota."

After the 1927 season, he received first-team All-America honors from the United Press, Bill Roper for the North American Newspaper Alliance, and Lawrence Perry.

Hanson completed his course of study in pharmacy in the spring of 1928 and passed his state board examination.

Hanson later expressed skepticism as to the benefit of college athletics: "The college athlete is physically overworked, without adequate time for study, under a great mental strain harmful to his nerves, injured in character by publicity which makes him king for a day, and exploited for the financial benefit of the school."

Professional football After completing his studies at Minnesota, Hanson worked through the summer with a construction company.

Hanson also appeared with Cully Lidberg's all-stars in the fall of 1931.

Legacy and later years

Even in 1946, Hanson was still cited by many as "the football players' player and the best guard Minnesota ever had."

In 1949, Dick Cullum of the Minneapolis Tribune picked Hanson as one of eleven players on his Minnesota "team of the century". Cullum said that Hanson's "mates and opponents of his time agree that Harold Hanson in 1925–27 was the most merciless and destructive guard they have ever known", with "a shattering quality in his blocking and tackling that made brave men wince."

In 1928, Hanson moved to Mora, Minnesota, where he set up a pharmacy business and worked as a druggist. He became vice president of the Minnesota pharmaceutical association and was active in the Mora businessmen's association. Hanson died in 1977 at Mora at age 72.