Every stout offensive line needs a reliable left tackle to take the heat off the quarterback's backside. For over ten years, the 49ers had that in Len Rohde. This is his story.
The Early Years
Leonard Emil Rohde was born in Palatine, Illinois on April 16, 1938. As the son of a farmer, he learned the value of hard labor from an early age and applied those life lessons in sports. He starred in basketball and wrestled well at Palatine High School, while heaving the shot put and flicking the discus in track.
But the state champion in wrestling was mostly interested in football. There, he could use his natural size and farmer's strength to overpower his opponents while strategizing with his teammates on every down.
After graduation, Rohde accepted a scholarship to Utah State. While the Aggies went 6-4 in 1956, he was ineligible to play because he was a freshman. The Aggies never had a winning record with him in the lineup.
But despite their abysmal record, Len Rohde proved to be a valuable asset along the offensive and defensive lines. By the time he graduated in 1960, he was a two-time All-Skyline selection as well as the 1959 team MVP. Rohde was good enough to be taken in both the AFL and NFL Drafts that year. Although he was taken in the second round by the AFL's Bills, he eschewed the opportunity to work for a startup and chose to sign with the NFL's 49ers who had taken him in the fifth round. He didn't know it at the time, but Len Rohde had found his forever home.
San Francisco
Len Rohde wasn't exactly sure where he fit into the 49ers when he first arrived. Some games he played defense while in others he filled in on offense. This went on for the first two-and-a-half years of his career until fate intervened. When the Niners' mainstay right tackle Bob St. Clair went down with an Achilles injury in the middle of 1962, Len Rohde stepped in and played well enough the rest of the year to convince his coaches that he deserved to be a starter.
The following year, he was permanently switched to left tackle and would start every game through 1974. For the rest of the decade, the young 6'4" 247 pound left tackle learned from his older linemates, Howard Mudd and Bruce Bosley, each bringing a wealth of knowledge to the position and with Pro Bowls to their names.
But for all his knowledge, Len Rohde could only do so much. While the team had its moments, it went the entire decade without reaching the playoffs. That all changed in 1970. Along with four other linemen that would become known as the Protectors, Len Rohde led the way as his teammates protected quarterback John Brodie, allowing just eight sacks all year. It was a record that would stand for the next 18 years.
At season's end, the 49ers had made it all the way to the very first NFC Championship Game where they would lose to the Dallas Cowboys in the last game ever played at Kezar Stadium. A couple of weeks later, Rohde was invited to his first and only Pro Bowl.
The 49er ultimately made it to the playoffs in the first three years of the new decade as their offensive line continued to mature as a unit. However, they never did reach the Super Bowl, losing to the Cowboys in each of those playoffs.
By 1974, Len Rohde knew that the end was near. After playing a team record 208 games, his body was beginning to break down. At season's end, he collected the team's prestigious Len Eshmont Award and retired.
Having earned his master's degree from San Jose State, he spent the rest of his life managing numerous restaurants throughout the Bay Area such as Applebees and Burger King. He even took up the family trade and became a farmer just like his father. At one time, his farm was a major producer of Templeton Olive Oil. He died on May 13, 2017.
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