University of Minnesota Athletics
Bob McNamara - M Club Hall of Fame
Bob McNamara
Football, 1951-54
HOF Class of 1993
So versatile a running back was the Gophers’ Bob McNamara that he earned 1954 All-America honors as both a fullback and a halfback.
McNamara, from Hastings, MN, was All-Big Ten in 1952 and 1954, and team MVP in his senior year. He also won 13 national racquetball titles.
After college, McNamara played football for four seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. He earned All-Pro honors in 1956, the same year he scored six touchdowns in a single game against Vancouver, a record.
He later played two seasons with the Denver Broncos in the American Football League.
In 2002, McNamara spearheaded the grassroots fundraising campaign that saved the University’s golf and men’s gymnastics programs from elimination. He and his brother, “Pinky,” have raised money and endowed scholarships for many Gopher athletic programs, especially tennis. They were early backers of the new TCF Bank Stadium.