Hal Fischer
{{short description|American football player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college football player
|name = Hal Fischer
|pastschools = Texas (1941-42, 1944)
|class = 1945
|major =
| bowlgames={{bulleted list
| Cotton Bowl (1943)}}
|highschool = Stephen F. Austin
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1921|10|25}}
|birth_place = Austin, Texas, US
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1996|10|5|1921|10|25}}
|death_place = Huntsville, Texas, US
|height_ft =
|height_in =
|weight_lbs = 190
|highlights={{bulleted list
|1944 All-Southwest Conference Team
|1942 Southwest Conference Champion
|1943 Cotton Bowl Classic Champion
|1944 Sun Bowl Champion }}
}}
Harold 'Hal' Joe Fischer, Sr. (October 25, 1921-October 5, 1996) was a former American football player who was a guard and back for the Texas Longhorns and the Southwestern Pirates in the 1940s. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the 8th round of the 1944 NFL Draft
Early life
Fischer attended Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, TX.
College football
Fischer played college football at the University of Texas, lettering in 1941-42 and 1944. He helped Texas to go 8-1-1 with a #4 ranking in 1941 and then to go 9-2, win the Southwest Conference Championship and the Cotton Bowl to finish ranked #11 in 1942.
In 1943, Fischer and seven other Longhorns were transferred to Southwestern University as part of the Navy’s V-12 officer training program. While he was in the Marines, he was a starter on the 1943 Southwestern Pirates team that went 10-1-1 overall, attained the school's only ranking ever, dealt Texas its only loss of the season, and won the 1944 Sun Bowl.{{cite news |title=Southwestern University Football Roster - 1943 |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth620445/m1/4/ |access-date=8 April 2025 |work=The Megaphone |date=11 September 1943}} He was honorable mention All-American guard by the AP that year.{{cite web |last1=Wells |first1=Jonathan |title=These high schools have produced the most Texas Longhorns - Part Two |url=https://www.burntorangenation.com/2022/8/11/23286727/these-high-schools-have-produced-the-most-texas-longhorns-football-lettermen-part-two |access-date=8 April 2025}}
He returned to Texas for the 1944 season - after being drafted by the Redskins - with a medical discharge.{{cite news |last1=Atchinson |first1=Lewis F. |title=Redskins, Other Clubs Facing Great Player Problems |work=Washington Evening Star |date=13 December 1944}} Though considered a great guard, he was moved to a blocking back in 1944. He made UPI’s All-Southwest Conference first team and the AP’s All-Southwest Conference second team as a blocking back and was named an All-America blocker.{{cite web |title=The All-America Blockers |url=https://digital.la84.org/digital/api/collection/p17103coll10/id/8101/download |access-date=7 April 2025}}
He played in the 1945 East-West Shrine Bowl.{{cite web |title=Texas Football History and Honors |url=https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/2024/8/8/Football_History___Honors.pdf |access-date=20 February 2025}}
References
{{Reflist}}