View source for Dan Fortmann

{{Short description|American football player (1916–1995)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name         = Dan Fortmann
| image        = Dan Fortmann.jpg
| number       = 21
| position     = [[Guard (gridiron football)|Guard]] <br> [[Linebacker]] <br> [[Tackle (gridiron football position)|Tackle]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1916|4|11}}
| birth_place  = [[Pearl River, New York]], U.S.
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1995|5|23|1916|4|11}}
| death_place  = [[Los Alamitos, California]], U.S.
| height_ft    = 6
| height_in    = 0
| weight_lb    = 210
| high_school  = [[Pearl River High School (New York)|Pearl River]]
| college      = [[Colgate Raiders football|Colgate]] (1933–1935)
| draftyear    = 1936
| draftround   = 9
| draftpick    = 78
| pastteams    = * [[Chicago Bears]] ({{NFL Year|1936|1943}})
| pastcoaching = * [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pittsburgh]] (1944)<br>Line coach
| highlights   = * 3× [[List of NFL champions (1920–1969)|NFL champion]] ([[1940 NFL Championship Game|1940]], [[1941 NFL Championship Game|1941]], [[1943 NFL Championship Game|1943]])
* 6× First-team [[All-Pro]] ([[1938 All-Pro Team|1938]]–[[1943 All-Pro Team|1943]])
* 2× Second-team All-Pro ([[1936 All-Pro Team|1936]], [[1937 All-Pro Team|1937]])
* 3× [[Pro Bowl|NFL All-Star]] ([[1940 National Football League All-Star Game (December)|1940]]–[[1942 National Football League All-Star Game (December)|1942]])
* [[NFL 1930s All-Decade Team]]
* [[NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team]]
* [[Chicago Bears#Top 100 greatest Bears of all-time|100 greatest Bears of All-Time]]
| statlabel1   = Games played
| statvalue1   = 86
| statlabel2   = Games started
| statvalue2   = 79
| statlabel3   = [[Interception]]s
| statvalue3   = 8
| statlabel4   = Interception yards
| statvalue4   = 54
| statlabel5   = [[Touchdown]]s
| statvalue5   = 1
| pfr          = FortDa20
| HOF          = dan-fortmann
| CollegeHOF   = 1468
}}

'''Daniel John Fortmann''' (April 11, 1916 – May 23, 1995) was an American professional [[American football|football]] [[Guard (gridiron football)|guard]] and [[linebacker]] who played for the [[Chicago Bears]] in the [[National Football League]] (NFL). He played [[college football]] for the [[Colgate Raiders football|Colgate Red Raiders]]. Playing for Chicago from 1936 to 1943, he was selected as an [[All-Pro]] for seven consecutive years from 1937 to 1943. He was the Bears' team captain starting in 1940 and led the team to NFL championships in 1940, 1941, and 1943.

Fortmann was the line coach for the [[Pittsburgh Panthers football]] team in 1944 and in 1945 served in the [[United States Navy]] in the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II]]. He engaged in a medical practice in Southern California from 1946 to 1984 and was the team physician for the [[Los Angeles Rams]] from 1947 to 1963. He was inducted into the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] in 1965. He was diagnosed with [[Alzheimer's disease]] in 1983.

==Early life==
Fortmann was born in 1916 in [[Pearl River, New York]].<ref name=PFR>{{cite web|title=Danny Fortmann Stats|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=Pro-Football-Reference.com|access-date=April 9, 2017|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/F/FortDa20.htm}}</ref> His father, Bernhard Gerhart Fortmann, was a New York native and salesman of butter and eggs. His mother, Emma Margaret Doscher, was also a New York native.<ref>Census entry for Bernhard Fortmann and family. Son Daniel, born in New York, age 4-1/2. Census Place: Orangetown, Rockland, New York; Roll: T625_1258; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 219; Image: 922. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line].</ref>

Fortmann attended [[Pearl River High School (New York)|Pearl River High School]], where he earned 12 [[varsity letter]]s in sports and was the valedictorian of his class.<ref name=LAT95/><ref name=PR/>

==College career==
At age 16, Fortmann enrolled at [[Colgate University]], where he played football, playing as a halfback as a freshman before moving to guard and becoming a starter in 1934 and 1935.<ref name=LAT95/><ref name=CT36/> Colgate football coach [[Andrew Kerr]] called Fortmann "the best player I ever handled."<ref name=PR/> After the 1935 season, he was selected to play in multiple all-star games, including the [[East–West Shrine Game]] (January 1, 1937) and the [[Chicago College All-Star Game]] (September 1, 1937).<ref name=PR/> [[Dick Hanley (American football)|Dick Hanley]], who coached Fortmann in the Shrine Game, praised Fortmann as a great blocker and urged [[Chicago Bears]] owner [[George Halas]] to sign Fortmann.<ref name=CT36/>

In addition to playing football, Fortmann was also an outstanding student at Colgate. He received straight A's as a pre-med student and graduated with [[Phi Beta Kappa]] honors at age 19.<ref name=PR/> He was also president of his senior class and a member of the [[Delta Upsilon]] (DU) fraternity.<ref name=CT36/>

==Professional football==
At age 19, Fortmann was selected by the [[Chicago Bears]] in the ninth and final round (78th overall pick) of the [[1936 NFL draft]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=1936 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1936/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-20 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> After being drafted by the Bears, Fortmann was unsure whether he should attend medical school or play professional football. Bears owner [[George Halas]] persuaded Fortmann that he could do both and advanced funds to Fortmann for medical school.<ref name=CT36/><ref>{{cite web|title=Pro Football's Doctor Alumni|publisher=Pro Football Researchers|work=Coffin Corner|author=Stanley Grosshandler|year=1970|url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/04-05-099.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120428083412/http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/04-05-099.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 28, 2012}}</ref> After speaking with Halas, Fortmann signed with the Bears in May 1936. At the time, he was the youngest person ever signed by an NFL team.<ref name=CT36>{{cite news|title=Fortmann, Star Colgate Guard, Signed By Bears|newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=May 22, 1936|page=33|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10203251/fortmann_star_colgate_guard_signed_by/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

[[File:Fortmann-Danny-1941.jpg|thumb|left|260px|Fortmann in 1941]]
Due to his medical school obligations, Fortmann missed most of the Bears' sessions in his first four years with the team.<ref name=PR/> In 1941, during his medical internship, he described pro football as "just the means to an end", the end being practicing medicine as a surgeon.<ref name=DFP41/> Yet, Fortmann became fiercely loyal to Halas, saying: "Halas is the salt of the earth. There is nobody I admire and respect more than him."<ref name=LAT65/>

Fortmann remained with the Bears for his entire professional football career, lasting for eight years from 1936 to 1943. He appeared in 86 games for the Bears. By 1939, Fortmann had established himself as one of the best most valuable players in the NFL. In voting by NFL coaches for the [[1939 All-Pro Team]], Fortmann received 37 points, the second-highest individual vote of any player.<ref>{{cite news|title=Four Giants Win Honors|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=December 15, 1939|page=II-13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10207034/four_giants_win_honors/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

Fortmann was team captain of the Bears starting in 1940. As team captain, he led the Bears to back-to-back NFL championships in 1940 and 1941 with records of 8–3 and 10–1. After the 1940 season, Fortmann was rated as the best lineman in the NFL. The [[United Press]] called him "the heart and soul" of the Bears' ground attack that "rolled up a vast amount of yardage overland."<ref>{{cite news|title=Fortmann, Baugh Top Pro All-Star: Named Outstanding Among Linemen And Backs|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|date=December 3, 1940|page=28|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10206821/fortmann_baugh_top_pro_allstar_named/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

In the [[1940 NFL Championship Game]], the Bears defeated the [[Washington Redskins]] by a 73–0 score. Fortmann later cited the 1940 championship game as proof of Halas' skill as a "master of psychology."<ref name=LAT65/> The Bears had lost to the Redskins three weeks earlier, and Fortmann recalled that Halas kept reminding the Bears of that defeat every day, and when the team took the field for the championship game, "they were keyed the highest emotionally I ever saw them."<ref name=LAT65/>

In August 1942, quarterback [[Bob Snyder (American football)|Bob Snyder]] called Fortmann "a perfect football player" and "the most important man on the Bear squad."<ref>{{cite news|title=Fortmann, Musso to Lead Bears for 3d Straight Year|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|author=Edward Prell|date=August 25, 1942|pages=17–18|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10206151/fortmann_musso_to_lead_bears_for_3d/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> The [[1942 Chicago Bears season|1942 Bears]] compiled a perfect 11–0 record in the regular season and won the Western Division championship, but lost to the [[Washington Redskins]] in the [[1942 NFL Championship Game]].

Fortmann announced his retirement from the NFL in January 1943,<ref>{{cite news|title=Danny Fortmann To Assist Shaughnessy At Pitt|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|date=January 31, 1943|page=2-1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10204425/danny_fortmann_to_assist_shaughnessy_at/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> but was persuaded to return for the 1943 season. He continued to practice medicine at Pittsburgh's Presbyterian Hospital during the 1943 season, flying in on Saturdays to play with the Bears on Sundays.<ref name=DFP43>{{cite news|title=Fortmann Will Operate Sunday in Farewell to Pro Grid|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=December 23, 1943|page=10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10204273/dr_fortmann_will_operate_sunday_in/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Dr. Fortmann Starred For Bears Sans Drills|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|author=Jack Sell|date=December 30, 1943|pages=11, 13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10204495/dr_fortmann_starred_for_bears_sans/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> The [[1943 Chicago Bears season|1943 Bears]] compiled an 8–1–1 record and defeated the Washington Redskins in the [[1943 NFL Championship Game]], which proved to be Fortmann's last game as an NFL player. He announced his retirement five days after the championship game.<ref>{{cite news|title=Danny Fortmann To Quit Football|newspaper=Arizona Republic|date=January 1, 1944|page=9|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10204723/danny_fortmann_to_quit_football/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

==Honors and awards==
Fortmann received numerous honors and awards during and after his football career, including the following:

*  Fortmann received All-Pro honors during each of his eight years in the NFL. He received second-team honors as a rookie in 1936 and first-team honors in 1937 (''New York Daily News''), 1938 (NFL, UP, ''Collyer's Eye'', Pro Football Writers, INS), 1939 (NFL, UP, ''Collyer's Eye'', Pro Football Writers, INS, ''New York Daily News''), 1940 (AP, UP, NFL, ''Collyer's Eye'', INS, ''New York Daily News''), 1941 (AP, UP, NFL, ''Collyer's Eye'', ''New York Daily News''), 1942 (AP, NFL, INS, ''New York Daily News''), and 1943 (AP, UP, ''Pro Football Illustrated'', ''New York Daily News'').<ref name=PFR/>
* In 1965, Fortmann was inducted into the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] as part of the Hall's third class of inductees.<ref name=LAT65>{{cite news|title=Hall of Famers diagnosis: Hutson the Best -- Dr. Fortmann|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=January 24, 1965|page=C7|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10202709/hall_of_famers_diagnosis_hutson_the/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> His Hall of Fame biography states: "On offense, he called signals for the linemen and was a battering-ram blocker. On defense, he was a genius at diagnosing enemy plays and a deadly tackler."<ref>{{cite web|title=Dan Fortmann Bio|publisher=Pro Football Hall of Fame|access-date=April 10, 2017|url=http://www.profootballhof.com/players/dan-fortmann/biography/}}</ref>
* In 1969, Fortmann was named to the [[National Football League 1930s All-Decade Team|NFL 1930s All-Decade Team]].<ref>{{cite news|title=All-1930's NFL Team Selected|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|date=August 27, 1969|page=C5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9748483/all1930s_nfl_team_selected/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>
* In 1978, he was inducted into the [[College Football Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{College Football HoF|id=1468|name=Danny Fortmann Member Biography|accessdate=April 9, 2017}}</ref>
* In 1986, he received the [[NFL Alumni#NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award|NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award]].<ref>{{cite news|title=NFL Alumni surprise Cosell with honor|newspaper=News/Sun Sentinel|date=March 22, 1986|page=10C|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10207717/nfl_alumni_surprise_cosell_with_honor/}}</ref>
* In 2019, Fortmann was named to the [[NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team]]

==Later years and family==
Fortmann was married to Mary Van Halteren in a ceremony at [[East Lansing, Michigan]], on March 19, 1938.<ref>{{cite news|title=Miss Mary VanHalteren Becomes Bride of Chicagoan in Ceremony Here|newspaper=Lansing State Journal|date=March 20, 1938|page=14|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10207175/miss_mary_vanhalteren_becomes_bride_of/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>Marriage License issued to Daniel J. Fortmann and Mary A. Van Halteren. Ancestry.com. Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952 [database on-line].</ref> They had two sons, Thomas and Stephen.<ref name=LAT95/>

Fortmann enrolled at [[Rush Medical School]] at the [[University of Chicago]], where he studied medicine while playing for the Bears. He obtained his medical degree in 1940. He interned at [[Harper Hospital]] in [[Detroit]] and completed his surgical training at the [[University of Pittsburgh]].<ref name=PR/><ref name=DFP41>{{cite news|title=An Ambition That Wouldn't Be Lost: Fame and adulation have failed to make Danny Fortmann forget that, above all, he wants to be a surgeon|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|author=John N. Sabo|date=January 30, 1941|page=13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10206538/an_ambition_that_wouldnt_be_lost_dan/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

In the fall of 1944, he served as the line coach for the [[University of Pittsburgh]] [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Panthers football]] team.<ref name=JN45>{{cite news|title=Dan Fortmann Is on Duty With Navy in the Pacific|newspaper=The Journal News|date=April 17, 1945|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10204942/dan_fortmann_is_on_duty_with_navy_in/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

In February 1945, Fortmann was commissioned as a lieutenant in the [[United States Navy]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Dr. Danny Fortmann Commissioned By Navy|newspaper=The Daily Republican|date=February 28, 1945|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10204856/dr_danny_fortmann_commissioned_by_navy/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> In April 1945, he was assigned to an attack transport ship in the South Pacific.<ref name=JN45/> He served in the [[Navy Medical Corps]] on a hospital ship in the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific theater]].<ref name=PR/>

In 1946, Fortmann was licensed to practice medicine in California and began practicing on Hollywood Boulevard in [[Los Angeles]].<ref name=PR/><ref>Daniel John Fortmann licensed in September 1946. California State Archives; Sacramento, California; Board of Medical Examiners Record of Applications, 1939-1953. Source Information: Ancestry.com.</ref><ref>California State Archives; Sacramento, California; Directory, 1950. Source Information: Ancestry.com. California, Occupational Licenses, Registers, and Directories, 1876-1969 [database on-line].</ref><ref>California, Occupational Licenses, Registers, and Directories, 1876-1969 [database on-line].</ref> He worked as a surgeon at [[Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center|St. Joseph Hospital]] in [[Burbank, California]], from 1948 until 1984. He became the hospital's chief of staff in 1965. He also served as the team physician for the [[Los Angeles Rams]] from 1947 to 1963.  Fortmann and his family in [[Toluca Lake, California|Toluca Lake]] and/or Burbank until 1974 when they moved to [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]].<ref name=PR>{{cite news|title=Pearl River's Finest, Dan Fortmann, Hall of Famer|newspaper=The Rockland County Journal-News|author=Art Hopper|date=January 22, 1965|page=21|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10200904/pearl_rivers_finest_dan_fortmann/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref name=CTobit>{{cite news|title=Dan Fortmann, 79, Bears guard in the Hall of Fame|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=May 26, 1995|pages=2–12|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10199750/dan_fortmann_79_bears_guard_in_the/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

Fortmann was diagnosed with [[Alzheimer's disease]] in 1983 and, in 1988, began living at the John Douglas French Center, a facility in [[Los Alamitos, California]], specializing in the care of Alzheimer's patients.  He died at French Center in May 1995 at age 79.<ref name=CTobit/><ref name=LAT95>{{cite news|title=Obituary|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=June 2, 1995|page=A31|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10199879/daniel_john_fortmann_obituary/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Profootballhof|dan-fortmann}}
* {{College Football HoF|1468}}
* {{Footballstats |nfl=danny-fortmann |espn= |cbs= |yahoo=|fox= |pfr=F/FortDa20 |rotoworld= }}

{{Navboxes
| title = Dan Fortmann—championships, awards and honors
| list1 =
{{NFL1930s}}
{{NFL100}}
{{Bears1936DraftPicks}}
{{1940 Chicago Bears}}
{{1941 Chicago Bears}}
{{1943 Chicago Bears}}
{{1965 Football HOF}}
{{Pro Football Hall of Fame members}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortmann, Dan}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:American football guards]]
[[Category:American football linebackers]]
[[Category:American football tackles]]
[[Category:American sports physicians]]
[[Category:Chicago Bears players]]
[[Category:Colgate Raiders football players]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:United States Navy officers]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:People from Pearl River, New York]]
[[Category:Coaches of American football from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Rockland County, New York]]
[[Category:Military personnel from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Physicians from California]]
[[Category:Deaths from dementia in California]]
[[Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in California]]