Hall of Famer Brundige Passes Away
January 03, 2019 | Football
One of CU's Top Defensive Players Was 70
BOULDER – Bill Brundige, one of the best defensive players in the history of University of Colorado football, passed away last Saturday (Dec. 29) after a long battle with cancer. He was 70.
Brundige had retired to Knoxville, Tenn., and was surrounded by family when he passed peacefully at his home.
A 2016 inductee into CU's Athletic Hall of Fame, Brundige was a first-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America/Look Magazine as a senior in 1969, when both wire services (AP, United Press International) named him to their second teams. A first-team All-Big Eight performer at defensive end that season, he was also the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.
An imposing 6-foot-5, 235-pound performer, he played both tackle and end on CU's defensive lines under the late Eddie Crowder, the Buffalo head coach who recruited him from the plains of eastern Colorado. Brundige earned three letters from 1967-69.
He had a monster senior season, setting a CU record that still stood some 33 seasons later with 24 tackles for 123 yards in losses; that included 13 quarterback sacks, also a school record that would last almost a quarter-century. He had 149 tackles in his career, 55 credited as solo, which means 37 of those were behind the line of scrimmage. He also was a first-team Academic All-Big Eight team member as a junior.
Brundige was drafted in the second round by the Washington Redskins in the 1970 National Football League Draft, the 43rd selection overall. He would go on to play in 107 NFL games, with 74 starts, all with the Redskins over eight seasons (1970-77). He started every game as a rookie and played in Super Bowl VII following the '72 season.
He was born Nov. 13, 1948 in Holyoke, Colo, and graduated from Haxtun High School. He is survived by wife of many years, Bonnie; his mother, Dorothy, a sister, Linda Batello; a brother James and his wife, Jody, along with several nieces and nephews.
Services are set for Friday, Jan. 4, in Knoxville at Bridges Funeral Home.
Brundige is the third player from the CU teams in the late 1960s to pass away in the last month, as linebacker Rocky Martin died on Dec. 11 and offensive tackle Mike Montler passed on Dec. 13. In fact, all three were teammates on Colorado's 1967 and 1968 teams.
Brundige had retired to Knoxville, Tenn., and was surrounded by family when he passed peacefully at his home.
A 2016 inductee into CU's Athletic Hall of Fame, Brundige was a first-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America/Look Magazine as a senior in 1969, when both wire services (AP, United Press International) named him to their second teams. A first-team All-Big Eight performer at defensive end that season, he was also the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.
An imposing 6-foot-5, 235-pound performer, he played both tackle and end on CU's defensive lines under the late Eddie Crowder, the Buffalo head coach who recruited him from the plains of eastern Colorado. Brundige earned three letters from 1967-69.
He had a monster senior season, setting a CU record that still stood some 33 seasons later with 24 tackles for 123 yards in losses; that included 13 quarterback sacks, also a school record that would last almost a quarter-century. He had 149 tackles in his career, 55 credited as solo, which means 37 of those were behind the line of scrimmage. He also was a first-team Academic All-Big Eight team member as a junior.
Brundige was drafted in the second round by the Washington Redskins in the 1970 National Football League Draft, the 43rd selection overall. He would go on to play in 107 NFL games, with 74 starts, all with the Redskins over eight seasons (1970-77). He started every game as a rookie and played in Super Bowl VII following the '72 season.
He was born Nov. 13, 1948 in Holyoke, Colo, and graduated from Haxtun High School. He is survived by wife of many years, Bonnie; his mother, Dorothy, a sister, Linda Batello; a brother James and his wife, Jody, along with several nieces and nephews.
Services are set for Friday, Jan. 4, in Knoxville at Bridges Funeral Home.
Brundige is the third player from the CU teams in the late 1960s to pass away in the last month, as linebacker Rocky Martin died on Dec. 11 and offensive tackle Mike Montler passed on Dec. 13. In fact, all three were teammates on Colorado's 1967 and 1968 teams.
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