Burr Baldwin, 85; first UCLA football star to be consensus All-American

Burr Baldwin, who played in two Rose Bowls and was the first UCLA football player to be named a consensus All-American, has died. He was 85.

Baldwin died Monday night at his Bakersfield home of complications from cancer, his son, Michael Baldwin, told the Associated Press.

Playing end for the Bruins, Baldwin earned all-American honors in 1946 when he led his team with 18 receptions for 374 yards and three touchdowns. He also placed seventh in that year’s voting for the Heisman Trophy and was named most valuable player of the last UCLA team to finish the regular season undefeated.

In a career interrupted by military service during World War II, Baldwin also played for the Bruins in 1941 and 1942, and helped lead the team to Rose Bowl appearances after the 1942 and 1946 seasons. UCLA lost to Georgia, 9 to 0, on Jan. 1, 1943, and lost to Illinois, 45 to 14, four years later.

He is one of only eight UCLA football players to have his jersey (No. 38) retired, and was inducted into the UCLA athletic hall of fame in 1986.

Baldwin served in the Army during World War II, achieving the rank of captain and fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, his son said.

He was drafted by the NFL’s Green Bay Packers out of UCLA but chose to play for the Los Angeles Dons of the now-defunct All-America Football Conference.

After three years of professional football and a stint as a Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor at UCLA, Baldwin returned to Bakersfield, where he was born in 1922. He retired last month after 50 years as an insurance broker.

Baldwin is also survived by another son, Burr Baldwin Jr. His wife, Nancy, died last year.

Services will be held at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at St. Philip the Apostle Church, 7100 Stockdale Hwy., Bakersfield.