Vic Sears - Football

Vic Sears played his way from Southern Oregon, through Corvallis and into a spot in state sports lore as a durable lineman on Oregon State’s first bowl team.

Born in Ashland in 1918, Sears found his way to Oregon State and played there for three varsity seasons (1938-40) as a 6-foot-3, 200-pound tackle on the offensive line. As a junior, Sears teamed with center Quentin Greenough and guard Len Younce to lead the Beavers to a 9-1-1 record and win over Hawaii in the 1940 Pineapple Bowl, played in Honolulu. Following his senior season, he was voted first-team All-America. He played in the East-West Shrine Game in 1941.

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Sears in the fifth round of the 1941 Draft, but he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and played there through the 1953 season, missing 1944 due to a broken leg. He helped the Eagles win the NFL title in 1948 and ’49.

In 1943, Sears played for the legendary “Steagles,” the team formed by the merger of the Eagles and Steelers due to the shortage of players caused by World Ward II. In 1950, Sears became a defensive lineman as well and played there exclusively his final two seasons.

In 12 seasons, he played 131 games, earned All-NFL recognition on either the first of second team five times and earned the nickname “Old Smoothie.” He was voted to the NFL’s Team of the Decade for the 1940s at tackle.

Sears was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class in 1980 and into the Oregon State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991.