NFL Legend Bill Fralic Dies at 56
Bill Fralic, one of the greatest offensive linemen ever to get down and dirty in the NFL trenches, has died following a battle with cancer, according to a news release Friday from the University of Pittsburgh. He was 56.
Fralic was the second overall pick in the 1985 NFL draft, going to the Atlanta Falcons with that selection.
He played nine NFL seasons between 1985 and 1993, starting 131 of the 132 games in which he appeared.
He was also an All-Pro in 1986 and ’87, made four Pro Bowls between ’86 and ’89, and was named to the 1980s All-Decade Team.
“On behalf of the Atlanta Falcons we would like to extend our condolences to all the family and friends of Bill Fralic,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in a statement. “Bill was a cornerstone of the Falcons for eight seasons, while earning four Pro Bowl nods and two All-Pro selections. He was a beloved Falcon, and we will always be grateful for the impact he made here in Atlanta.”
Fralic was a standout in college, attending Pitt and thrice rating sufficient attention to get himself onto the All-America team.
We lost a legend today.
Bill Fralic, 1962-2018.
Rest in peace, 79. pic.twitter.com/obYWvMC8QW
— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) December 14, 2018
This, in turn, netted him induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998.
The lone honor to elude Fralic was enshrinement in Canton; he fell just short of pro football’s top honor.
Fralic was known for being one of the first NFL players to take a stand against what had been rampant steroid use in the league during the decade when Fralic had the task of preventing those roided-up monsters from doing grievous bodily harm to his quarterbacks.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution rated Fralic ninth on its list of the “Top 50 Falcons,” and its selection of quotes by and about Fralic speak volumes as to the kind of football player and man he was.
When Fralic went before Congress in 1989 to testify about performance-enhancing drugs over a decade before baseball players would be called on the carpet to do the same, then-Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, who was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, called Fralic’s testimony “refreshing and believable.”
Fralic was also responsible for the popularization of the term “pancake block,” as his use of that technique prompted the Pitt sports information desk to keep count of “pancakes” and distribute them as part of their press kit.
Which, in turn, may serve to explain how Fralic got picked second overall in a draft where Hall of Fame defensive end Bruce Smith went first.
The Falcons traded up from fourth to second to get him; Minnesota, meanwhile, used the pick to select Hall of Famer Chris Doleman, so you could say that trade was a win-win.
The draft in 1985 wasn’t the big ESPN press hullabaloo that it is today; Fralic wasn’t even there to hear his name called.
“We didn’t go to New York and I woke that morning and the Falcons called me and told me that they had drafted me second,” he recalled later. “I remember getting on a plane to Atlanta, doing a press conference and I think I came back the same day.”
As for his playing days with a woeful Atlanta franchise that went 49-95-1 during Fralic’s career, made the playoffs only once and had that 10-6 1991 campaign as the squad’s only winning season in those nine years, Fralic was sanguine.
“It was what it was and to say anything else I would be kidding myself,” he said. “I wish we won more football games but I was comfortable that I showed up every day ready to play. I wish I could have been a little healthier.”
Pitt, for whom Fralic was a broadcaster from 2004 to 2010, mourned the passing of a hero who once had the task of keeping Dan Marino upright on passing downs.
“Bill is truly one of the iconic figures in the history of Pitt Athletics,” Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke said in a news release. “He set a tremendous standard for our current generation of student-athletes, not only as an athlete but also for what he went on to accomplish once his playing days concluded.”
Fralic’s high school, Penn Hills, also offered condolences.
It is with a truly heavy heart & deep sadness that we have learned of the passing of our friend, Bill Fralic. He will be remembered as greatest o-lineman, ever, and as a true gentleman. He was our friend, our teammate, our brother. #pennhillspride @Pitt_FB @AtlantaFalcons pic.twitter.com/HkXurdD4UX
— 2018 PIAA 5A STATE CHAMPIONS PENN HILLS FOOTBALL (@phqbclub) December 14, 2018
If they play NFL football in heaven, the Falcons’ band of football souls just got a lot deeper on the O-line. Rest in peace, Bill Fralic.
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