Babe LeVoir

Babe LeVoir
LeVoir, 1935
Profile
PositionsHalfback, quarterback
Personal information
Born(1913-05-27)May 27, 1913
DiedSeptember 7, 1999(1999-09-07) (aged 86)
Edina, Minnesota, U.S.
Career information
High schoolMarshall (Minneapolis)
College
NFL draft1936: 2nd round, 13th overall pick
Awards and highlights
  • 2× National champion (1934, 1935)
  • First-team All-Big Ten (1935)

Vernal Alfred "Babe" LeVoir (May 27, 1913 – September 7, 1999) was an American football halfback and quarterback. He played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers from 1932 to 1935 and helped lead the Gophers to a combined 16–0 record and two national championships in 1934 and 1935. He was selected as the most valuable player on Minnesota's 1935 national championship team. He was also the 13th player selected in the first NFL draft.

Early years

LeVoir was born on May 27, 1913 in Bovey, Minnesota.[1] He attended Marshall High School in Minneapolis. He was rated as the greatest all-around athlete in the school's history, winning more varsity letters than any other athlete in school history. He received letters in golf, basketball, hockey, baseball, and football.[2]

Football player

LeVoir played college football for Minnesota from 1932 to 1935.[1] During his junior and senior years, he led the Gophers to a combined 16–0 record and two national championships.[3] He began the 1935 season as a quarterback and fullback and also played at halfback, winning a reputation as a "handy Andy". He also accounted for 16 extra-point kicks,[4] and was also "noted for his terrific blocking and defensive ability."[5] At the end of the season, he was selected by his teammates as the most valuable player on Minnesota's 1935 national championship team.[4][6] He was also selected by both the Associated Press and the United Press as the first-team quarterback on the 1935 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[7][8]

LaVoir was the 13th player selected in the first NFL draft, having been selected by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the second round of the 1936 NFL draft.[9][10] He chose not to play professional football, but he did appear in the 1936 Chicago Charities College All-Star Game, scoring the first touchdown by a college player (a 17-yard sprint in the second quarter) in the history of that game. His touchdown gave the college all-stars a 7–7 tie against the NFL champion Detroit Lions.[11]

Military service and later years

LeVoir enlisted in the United States Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor.[12] Initially assigned to the Navy's pre-flight school at the University of Iowa, LeVoir played at halfback and fullback under Bernie Bierman on the all-star 1942 Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks football team that was ranked No. 2 in a special Associated Press poll of the courtry's service teams.[13][14] He left the pre-flight school in 1943 and served 19 months of sea duty as athletic and gunnery officer aboard an aircraft carrier in the South Pacific; he was assigned as commander of all aircraft carrier athletics in the Pacific in early 1945.[15] He was inducted into the University of Minnesota's M Club Hall of Fame in 1994.[16]

LeVoir married Mary Roney Kennedy in 1951 at Edina, Minnesota.[17] He died from respiratory and heart failure in September 7, 1999 at age 86 at the Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina.[3] He was buried at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b "Babe LeVoir". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  2. ^ "Babe Levoir Wins 12 Letters to Beat Tanner's Mark at Marshall". The Minneapolis Star. February 20, 1932. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b "Gophers great Babe LeVoir dies; he was backfield star for Bierman". Star Tribune. September 8, 1999. p. B7 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "LeVoir Named 'Most Valuable' to Gophers: Started Season as Substitute Quarterback and Fullback". The Winona Republican-Herald. November 30, 1935. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Howard Brantz (November 21, 1946). "LeVoir Dope". The Winona Republican-Herald. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Babe LeVoir Named Most Valuable Player". The Minneapolis Journal. November 30, 1935. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ William Weekes (November 25, 1935). "Minnesota Tops Big Ten Ballot". The Independent, St. Petersburg, Fla (AP story). p. 4A.
  8. ^ Winthrop Lyman (November 21, 1935). "Grybowski Awarded Guard Berth on U.P. All-Conference Team". Urbana Daily Courier (UP story).
  9. ^ "1936 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  10. ^ "1936 National Football League Draft". Pro Football Hall of Fame.
  11. ^ "All-Stars and Lions Battle to 7–7 Tie: LeVoir and Beise Team Up to Score For College Crew". The Minneapolis Tribune. September 3, 1936. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Levoir, Flick Set To Go Into Service". Worthington Daily Globe. March 17, 1942. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Babe LeVoir in Backfield for Bierman". Minneapolis Star Journal. November 14, 1942. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "LeVoir Praised by Seahawks' Bierman". St. Cloud Times. November 11, 1942. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Lt. LeVoir Gets Navy Athletic Post". Daily Times. March 7, 1945. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Vernal 'Babe' LeVoir". GopherSports.com. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  17. ^ "LeVoir-Kennedy". Minneapolis Tribune. December 30, 1951. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Stew Thornley (2004). Six Feet Under: A Graveyard Guide To Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society Press. p. 152.
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