49er great, Hall of Famer Charlie Krueger dies at 84
Charlie Krueger, Jan 28, 1937 – Feb. 5, 2021
CLAYTON, CA—Charlie Krueger was one of the longest serving members of the San Francisco 49ers, playing for the local National Football League team from 1959-73, but his wife of 48 years Kristin was the couple’s biggest football fan.
Krueger, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame for his career at Texas A&M playing for immortal coach Bear Bryant, passed Feb. 5 eight days after his 84th birthday at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek following a long illness.
Kris and Charlie Krueger moved to a new Regency Woods home in Clayton in 1975 after they opened Krueger Liquors on Clayton Rd. in Concord that year. They operated the business until 1989. The retired NFL star was a regular presence in the store unless “he was birding or on the backroads” when his wife ran things.
The couple met under less than romantic circumstances. They were each with friends at a Redwood City Hofbrau when Charlie, then a star defensive lineman for the 49ers, made a snide comment about Kurt Herbert Adler, the head of the San Francisco Opera. One of his friends informed the football player that Adler’s daughter Kris was sitting at the adjoining table.
He tried to apologize by saying he was in the process of removing his rather large foot from his mouth. They eventually married in 1972 with his 49er teammate Eddie Dove as best man at the Portola Valley ceremony.
Kris says, “I had four years of football and 44 years without.” After he retired Charlie Krueger rarely attended or even watched games on TV. Many times, fan Kris would relay game scores to her husband, who was a voracious reader.
Local involvement
In Clayton, the Kruegers were staunch supporters and guardians of their community. They were vocal in sparring with the Seeno Company when the builder unveiled plans for development in and around Regency Woods that they felt were not good for the area. Long-time councilwoman Julie Pierce says the couple were “constructively vocal and had a positive way of addressing their concerns to the planning commission and city council.”
Pierce recounted a story from former Planning Commissioner George Webb. Charlie Krueger was very concerned about the plan to develop Clayton Community Park across the street from their subdivision. Years later the two men encountered one another walking and Krueger told Webb how wonderful the playfields turned out for the community and his original concerns about traffic and noise impacting the quality of life proved wrong.”
Pierce added that the Krueger’s “helpful comments often led us towards improving projects.”
Regency Woods neighbor Dee Jakel said, “We will always remember Charlie as a good friend and neighbor. We met 45 years ago and shared so many good times and made memories that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. We bid you farewell ‘old 70.’ Hold that line.”
Until his football injuries took a final toll on his legs, Charlie Krueger was a regular walking on local trails and went to the YMCA in Pleasant Hill, where his wife said he would park his truck so he could keep an eye on the four dogs he brought along with him.
Kris Krueger says she never knew when he would come home from walking with a stray he had found, including the dog Charlie rescued from living under the construction trailer when Diamond Terrace retirement community was being built. Not surprisingly, one of the charities suggested for donations in his name is the Animal Rescue Foundation of Walnut Creek.
Texas native loved California
Krueger was born Jan 28, 1937, the second of eight children in Caldwell, Texas. His family was poor and after high school he went to Texas A&M, where he was a two-time all-American playing 1955-57 for Bryant with teammates including Heisman Trophy winner John David Crow (who later played with Krueger on the 49ers), future NFL All-Pro linebacker and coach Jack Pardee and future Aggies coach Gene Stallings.
The 49ers made him the ninth pick of the 1958 draft and Krueger played his entire pro career for the 49ers, earning two Pro Bowls berths. He missed the 1958 season due to injury. “Charlie would say the best thing that happened to him in pro football was moving to California,” his wife said.
An ironman defensive tackle, he played 198 regular season games and five more in the playoffs following the 1970-71-72 seasons, all ending in losses to the Dallas Cowboys.
Krueger was so highly regarded by the team that his jersey number 70 was retired a year after his 1973 retirement. From 1960-67 a defensive line teammate was Mt. Diablo High grad Dan Colchico, who ironically also owned a liquor store in Concord. Colchico died in 2014 following surgery.
Krueger was one of the last linemen in the NFL to wear a two-bar “quarterback” facemask. His brother Rolf was also an NFL player with the St. Louis Cardinals and 49ers, where the brothers played together for two years.
In 1988, Krueger was awarded more than $2.3 million in damages from a lawsuit against the 49ers. The judge found that Krueger received repeated anesthetic injections during his NFL career so that he could continue playing in spite of significant knee injuries. The decision found that the team was not truthful with Krueger regarding the seriousness of his injuries, which left him with severe chronic pain after his playing days.
His wife says that, of course, they did not receive nearly $2.3 million after legal costs and that the reason for the suit was never money related. “Charlie was a man of principle and was concerned about protecting the players coming after him so that they did get proper medical advice and care.”
He also was involved in the NFL concussion settlement for retired players that rose out of the numerous cases of players suffering permanent damage from concussions suffered during their playing careers.
During our interview last week, Kris pointed to two large plaques atop a bookcase presented to her husband from the 49ers and a large bouquet of flowers on the kitchen counter sent from the team. She said her husband had only two autographed photos, four-time 49er Super Bowl lineman Jesse Sapolu and 49ers coach Mike Nolan. The latter was the son of Krueger’s coach when they made the NFL playoffs three consecutive years, Dick Nolan. Krueger would often play with coach Nolan’s young son Mike, the only player to do so.
She is the daughter of long-time San Francisco Opera general director Kurt Herbert Adler. Her brother is Ronald Adler, an opera director in Germany. Kris Krueger jokes that she has always been known as the “daughter of,” “sister of” or “wife of” her famous father, brother and husband.
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen and newspaper society editors would often mention “49er player Charlie Krueger and his wife Kristin” at opera openings and other events.
Although Krueger died from heart and kidney failure unrelated to COVID-19, his wife wasn’t able to visit or speak to him after he was taken to John Muir on Jan. 7 because of pandemic-related hospital procedures. Thankfully, Charlie Krueger was able to come home for his final days with his wife.
Donations in Charlie Krueger’s name can be made to ARF or the Salvation Army.