Today we remember Bob Burles. The following is from his Marshfield Hall of Fame induction in 2005.
Robert “Bob” Burles: A 1961 Marshfield graduate, Burles excelled in football, basketball and track for the Pirates, starting in both football and basketball as a sophomore and junior before a serious leg injury the first football game his senior year kept him out of that sport and most of basketball season.
He was a key part of two Marshfield basketball teams that finished second at state and was rated one of the state’s best prospects his senior year.
Bob Burles, Willamette University.
1964 NAIA T&F: 440 yd Hurdles (4th)
1964 Football
1965 NAIA T&F: 440y Hurdles (2nd)
1965 Football
1966 NAIA T&F: 440y Hurdles (1st)
After spending a year at the University of Oregon, he transferred to Willamette University, where he started three years in both football and basketball, earning All-American status in football. He also was an NAIA national champion in the 400-meter hurdles in track and was part of the first group inducted into the university’s hall of fame.
He went on to a successful career in physical therapy and was a president of the National Physical Therapy Association. Burles died from a brain tumor in 1998.
