FLINT – Leo Sugar was an All-State fullback for Northern High’s football team in the late 1940s, good enough to be recruited by Notre Dame, Michigan State and Purdue among others.
He ended up choosing Purdue but after one season in West Lafayette, Ind., coach Stu Holcomb asked Sugar how he felt about switching positions and becoming a defensive end.
Sugar agreed to the move and it was the best thing that ever happened to him athletically. He became an All-Big Ten Conference defensive end, was named to the All-American team, played in the annual College All-Star Game in Chicago and spent nine seasons in the NFL.
One of the greatest football players in Flint-area history, Sugar died recently in his adopted hometown of Fort Myers, Fla.,
He was 91.
“The best defensive end I ever coached,” Holcomb said in a 1982 Flint Journal story that was written when Sugar was inducted into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame as part of its third class.
At Northern, he played under the legendary Guy V. Houston, another GFASHOF member.
“A natural and dedicated athlete” is what Houston called Sugar.
Sugar grew up on Flint’s north side and was an outstanding all-around athlete.
In addition to playing football at Northern, he was captain of the Vikings' 1947 state championship basketball team. He also helped a local American Legion baseball team win a state championship while playing the outfield.
But it was in football that Sugar made his mark.
He ended his career at Purdue by serving as team captain in the aforementioned All-Star Game, where the players included future Pro Football Hall of Famer Frank Gifford.
The 6-foot-1, 214-pound Sugar was selected by the Chicago Cardinals in the 11th round (123rd overall) of the 1952 NFL draft and he played seven seasons with the Cardinals, making the All-Pro team in 1958 and ’60.
He spent the 1961 season with the Philadelphia Eagles and it looked like his career was over when he was injured before the Detroit Lions made him an offer to join them in 1962. It was something Sugar couldn’t turn down since it allowed him to live in Flint and commute back and forth to play for the team he followed as a kid
Although Sugar didn’t play much for the Lions – he appeared in six games and started one – the ’62 season was among the highlights of his career.
“Let’s not forget how Flint came to Tiger Stadium to honor me,” he said.
Sugar started 87 of 104 career NFL games, had 13 career fumble recoveries and one interception. He returned three fumbles for touchdowns.
When Sugar’s career ended, he put his physical education degree to use by working in the Flint school system until 1969. He also served in the Army during the Korean War era after being drafted.
The son of Polish immigrants, Sugar prided himself on doing things the right way. He hoped his induction into the GFASHOF would serve as a lesson to youngsters that they can achieve their dreams just as he did.
“I am so thrilled by this honor,” he said in 1982. "I want to tell all the athletes to discipline themselves, not depend on a coach or a system. I want the youth of my town to know it takes self-discipline, those fundamentals coaches used to teach and are still trying to teach.
“Those athletes today who abuse themselves aren’t letting down their friends, their teams, their fans. They are letting themselves down. It takes personal discipline and dedication. I hope I had it. I’m afraid to think what might have happened if I hadn’t been taught the value of personal discipline.”
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