(Fred, wearing #92 goes after Quarterback Don Bunce in the 1972 Rose Bowl).

13 December 2017 Frederick E. Grambau (born August 30, 1950) at Salt Lake City, UT. He was with family at the time of his passing. Known as “Kool” to his college friends and team-mates (and #92 to his fans), he played college football for the Michigan Wolverines.

Kool started his career at Michigan in 1969, along with about twenty new players who began their careers in legendary coach Bo Schembechler’s first year at Michigan. Although freshman were not eligible to play in 1969, Grambau was around for all the “fun” of Drill Sergeant Schembechler’s football practices and meetings.

He was a native of Ossineke, Michigan and played his high school football at Alpena High School on the east side of the Mitten. He was in line to play a lot of football for the Wolverines in 1970, but a knee injury caused him to miss the whole season. He came back strong in 1971 and started nine games at defensive tackle on the team that won all eleven regular season games before losing to Stanford in the 1972 Rose Bowl. Fred Grambau started all eleven games on the 1972 team that finished with 10 wins, 1 loss, and 0 ties. The Wolverines shared the Big Ten title with Ohio State that year. Grambau finished his Michigan football career as an All-Big Ten performer and played on the winning team (East) in the East-West Shrine Game in December 1972. He was also a ring-leader in the famous John Street group that took the college experience to the next level socially.

Fred Grambau, #92, is the fifth player from the left in the second row. (Photo Courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library. Photographer: Bob Kalmbach)

As a proud member of Bo’s first graduating class in 1973, Fred Grambau helped set the bar at a very high level for future Wolverine teams. During his time at Michigan, the Maize and Blue compiled an overall record of 38 wins and 6 losses for a winning percentage of just over eighty-six (.863) percent. Grambau and his teammates won one league championship (1971), tied for two more (1969 and 1972) and finished in a tie for 2nd place in 1970. They won 27 out of 30 conference games over that four-year span.

Fred was drafted by the Kansas City chiefs in the fifth round of the 1973 National Football League draft but did not make the Chiefs roster that year, though the coaching staff told him he was more than qualified to play in the NFL. He opted to play professional football in Canada for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and earned All-CFL honors in 1974. After signing with the Montreal Alouettes in March, 1976, knee problems eventually forced him to retire from football in 1976.

He was always a good-spirited and adventurous man, and joined a growing colony of Michiganders who migrated to Park City, UT, a former silver mining town that reinvented itself as a luxury ski resort- and Fred helped much of the explosive development.

With his untimely passing, the circle grows smaller. He was also a good friend to many, a dynamic businessman and loyal family man. He will be greatly missed.

Copyright 2017 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com