Flashback Friday: Buzz Aldrin – Montclair High School (New Jersey)

buzz aldrinPhoto courtesy of NASA
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I remember it like it was yesterday. I just had my tonsils removed and I was eating ice cream to dull the pain, but I was mesmerized by a couple of guys about to do something incredible.

The date? July 20, 1969.

What I didn’t know until today is the second man to step on the moon was was a high school football player.

Buzz Aldrin played center on the 1946 Montclair High School (New Jersey) that was a perfect 9-0. Aldrin was named to the Montclair Times’ Second Team All-Star squad.

Montclair Times – Buzz Aldrin #28

Aldrin anchored an offensive line that led the way to 1,630 yards on the ground for the season and 1,013 yards through the air.

From Montclair Times via Newspapers.com

Aldrin closed-out his high school football career with a 58-0 shutout of Thanksgiving Day arch-rival Bloomfield. Two years earlier (1944), Bloomfield was quarterbacked by future Denver Broncos QB Frank Tripuka, who after their high school days became friends.

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About the Author

Jeff Fisher
Jeff is an award-winning journalist and expert in the field of high school sports, underscored with his appearance on CNBC in 2010 to talk about the big business of high school football in America.Jeff turned to his passion for high school football into an entrepreneurial venture called High School Football America, a digital media company focused on producing original high school sports content for radio, television and the internet.Jeff is co-founder and editor-in-chief of High School Football America, a partner with NFL Play Football.