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1923–2013 · raised in South Bend
Edwin Sheffield Ehlers — "Bulbs" — was born March 10, 1923, in Joliet, Illinois, and raised in South Bend, where he attended South Bend Central and played basketball for John Wooden: the coach's own pupil, from the coach's own South Bend years. At Purdue he lettered in three sports — basketball, football and baseball — across 1942–43 and 1946–47. In 1947 he stood at a fork no modern athlete faces: the Boston Celtics took him third overall in the inaugural BAA draft, making him the first draft pick in the Celtics' history, and the Chicago Bears took him too, in the 31st round of the NFL draft, 293rd overall. He chose basketball and played his professional years for Boston in the Basketball Association of America, the league that became the NBA. He died June 17, 2013. His son Tom carries the family into this record's football register below — a Kentucky linebacker drafted by Philadelphia, who joined his father in the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1988. Raised here, formed at Central under Wooden: the tie is formation, and it is one of the strongest in this record.
Sources
- The standard player registers — the Joliet birth and South Bend upbringing, South Bend Central, the three-sport Purdue career.
- The 1947 BAA draft record and Boston Celtics draft history — the third overall selection and the franchise's first pick; the 1947 NFL draft record — the Bears' 31st-round selection.
- Indiana Football Hall of Fame — the son's induction of 1988, joining his father.