Bob Lurtsema, a 6-foot-6 defensive lineman, starred first in football and basketball for Ottawa Hills High School, then at what is now Grand Rapids Community College and Michigan Tech before finishing his collegiate football career at Western Michigan University.
He went on to play in the NFL starting in 1968 for 12 seasons with the New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks. In ’68 he was named to the NFL’s All-Rookie team. With the Vikings, he played in two Super Bowls (VIII and IX) and became a local sports celebrity in part because of savings and loan commercials he appeared in as the beloved “Benchwarmer Bob.”
After retiring from football, he lived and worked in Minneapolis, published a Vikings fan tabloid and also owned local restaurants he called Benchwarmer Bob’s Sports Café.