Mountain Empire Football Hall of fame
Inducted 2021
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Robert G. "Bobby" Cifers
Robert Gale "Bobby" Cifers, a native of Kingsport, Tennessee, is one of the great high school athletes from the state of Tennessee. At Dobyns-Bennett High School, he excelled in every sport. Cifers was truly a great football player who could do everything – pass, run, kick, and block, and was a record setting, single wing tailback. He led the nation in scoring with 213 points in 1938, and in 1939 he led the State of Tennessee in scoring with 185 points. Cifers once scored 6 touchdowns and kicked 5 extra points in one game (41 total points). In his senior season, Cifers averaged 132 rushing yards per game and 33 yards per kick return. Cifers later starred for the University of Tennessee in 1941 and 1942, in running and kicking and playing tailback in the single-wing offense. In his sophomore year, he established a new collegiate record in punting, averaging over 42 yards per kick. At the end of his 1942 college year, Cifers volunteered for duty in the United States Air Corps, where he was named to all-service teams 3 times as a running back and punter. Following his military service, Cifers played professionally for the Detroit Lions and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for best average for a game while playing for the Detroit Lions. Against the Chicago Bears in 1946, he punted 4 times for a 61.8 average in a snow storm. Besides the Detroit Lions in 1944-1946, he also quarterbacked the Pittsburgh Steelers 1947-1948 and the Green Bay Packers in 1949. Perhaps his greatest accolade in a brilliant athletic career was expressed by legendary University of Tennessee Football Coach General Robert Neyland, who called Cifers “the greatest athlete I ever had the privilege to see.” Cifers is a member of the Tennessee Hall of Fame. |