Bruce Hilkene
| Bruce L. Hilkene | |
|---|---|
Hilkene on cover of game program, November 1947
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| Born | November 4, 1925 |
| Died | April 26, 1990 (aged 64) |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
Bruce L. Hilkene (November 4, 1925 – April 26, 1990) was the captain and starting left tackle of the undefeated 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team. The team defeated the USC Trojans 49-0 in the 1948 Rose Bowl and has been selected as the greatest Michigan football team of all time. Hilkene was named captain of the 1945 team but missed the season due to wartime service in the U.S. Navy. In 1947 he returned as captain. Hilkene later served for many years as an executive at General Motors. He was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1992.
Hilkene was a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, where he attended Shortridge high school.
He joined the Michigan Wolverines football team as a 17-year-old freshman in September 1943 where he was a reserve player. Hilkene later joked that he was a "retired end" in 1943, "retired to the bench so long he didn't earn a letter."
At the start of the 1944 season, Hilkene competed for the starting lineup at the end position with Art Renner and Dick Rifenberg. Hilkene won the job and was the starting left end in nine of the team's ten games in 1944. The team was 8-2 that year, outscoring opponents 204-91. On his 19th birthday, Hilkene scored his first and only collegiate touchdown on a pass from Howard Yerges in a 41-19 win over the University of Pennsylvania. At the conclusion of the 1944 season, Hilkene was selected by the Big Ten coaches as an Honorable Mention player on the Associated Press All Western Conference Team. In December 1944, Hilkene was also voted by the Michigan players to be the captain of the 1945 football team.
Hilkene also played basketball as a backup center for Michigan in 1944 and 1945.
As a sophomore in 1944, Hilkene enlisted in the U.S. Navy and participated in the V-12 Navy College Training Program while continuing his studies in Ann Arbor. In mid-February 1945, Hilkene was transferred from the university for advance military training. At the time of his transfer to active duty, newspapers published a photograph of Coach Fritz Crisler saying farewell to Hilkene with the following caption:
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