Leonard 'Butch' Levy - M Club Hall of Fame - University of Minnesota Athletics

Upcoming Events

Schedule

Sep 19

Women's Golf

at Lady Paladin Invitational

Sep 19

9:00 AM

Tennis

vs Gopher Invitational

Sep 19

5:00 PM

Baseball

vs Maroon vs. Gold

Leonard 'Butch' Levy
Football, 1939-41
Wrestling, 1941-42
Baseball, 1942
HOF Class of 1994

Minneapolis native Leonard “Butch” Levy starred as a guard on the Golden Gopher football teams of 1939 through 1941.

Huge for the times at 6-0 and 260 pounds, the 1941 All-Big Ten lineman helped lead the Gophers to NCAA national championships in 1940 and 1941, and later played in the College All-Star Game. Levy also won a wrestling national championship and All-American honors in 1941.

The Cleveland Rams selected Levy in the NFL draft’s fourth round, 27th overall, but he served three years in the Navy during World War II before suiting up for the Rams. When he did, he helped anchor an offensive line that defeated the Washington Redskins in the NFL championship game.

Levy moved with the Rams to Los Angeles the following season, helping them finish second in the NFL West. He next played with the Los Angeles Dons in the new All-American Football Conference and earned its all-conference first team honors.

Retiring from football in 1948, he became one of the most feared professional wrestlers of the 1950s, competing in former Gopher Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association.