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An Interview about Bob St. Clair
- An interview with Kristine Setting Clark (Author) by Arne Christensen
Sept 30 2009

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Editor's note: Author Kristine Clark has written a book about Bob St. Clair, a legendary 49er. Clark has also written about YA Tittle and other 49ers' greats. You can read more about her and her book reviews from the main book review page. Interviewer Arne Christensen is also the author of The Walsh Years, you can read that book review from the main book review page as well.

What are St. Clair's thoughts on the image of him as an oddball who eats raw meat? Does he get tired of that stereotype?

No, he loves the attention. As a matter of fact, he now has a new gig called Tough Tailgaters, where he challenges people to eat raw meat. His son Greg started the project and the 49ers bought into it. You can check Tough Tailgaters online. Great website. [http://www.toughtailgater.com]


It sounds like one of St. Clair's big advantages on the line was his height and strength: as a defender, it was hard to push around someone so much taller than you. Is this true?
Yes. As a matter of fact there was no one in the NFL at that time who was tougher than Bob, other than Gino Marchetti of the Colts. Since they had gone to college together (USF) they knew each other’s moves and Gino was as strong as Bob. Great match-ups.


I see that St. Clair had 10 field goal blocks in 1956 and was also a goal-line defender. Was that mostly the Niners trying to take advantage of his height and size?

Definitely! That’s why he played the position.


What are your own impressions of Bob? You hear about the raw meat, and him loving to hit and attack the other team, and he sounds intimidating to say the least.

The ‘aura’ of St. Clair still stands. He is a wonderful person and our families are very close. He is godfather to my grandson. He is generous and caring……and still very tough!


Did Bob suffer a lot of injuries in his career? I suppose that comes with the territory, but the NFL of the '50s was rougher than it is now, from all I hear.

Broken shoulder, two torn Achilles, busted knees, broken back, fingers, arm…..just about everything. Remember, face masks weren’t even invented during Bob’s first two or three years. The rules were a lot more relaxed and the equipment inferior. The guys from Bob’s era were the REAL MEN OF PRO FOOTBALL.


Bob was the Daly City mayor from 1958 to 1961, then became San Mateo County Supervisor. Why did Bob get into politics?

Bob loved it. He also loves the limelight and with such an illustrious career, he did well.


I know Bob works with Clover Farms now. What's his relationship to the Niners been since his retirement?

He is still a 49er Faithful and as I mentioned before, now has Tough Tailgaters which is a part of the 49ers public relations department.


  I just noticed that you helped get the Kezar Stadium field named for Bob back in 2001. Was that mostly a reflection of all the time he spent playing in the stadium?

I wrote the proposal to the San Francisco Park and Recreation Department to have the field named after Bob. He played a total of 189 games there and was the only player to have played high school, college and pro football on the same field.



Links:


The Walsh Years: http://stores.lulu.com/nflhistory
Arne's Blog: 49ers History

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