Max Fugler

Sport: AthleteFootball

Induction Year: 2019

University: LSU

An All-America center and interior defensive lineman for LSU’s national championship team, the 6-foot-1, 201-pound Fugler was a stalwart on the famed White Team. He was an outstanding blocker on offense who played more minutes than any other player on the unbeaten 1958 squad led by Paul Dietzel.

A Ferriday native, Fugler made two key tackles on the goal line to preserve a 14-0 win over Ole Miss that season and was named national lineman of the week for his efforts against the Rebels that night. He was one of the stars of LSU’s first national championship in football along with Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inductees Billy Cannon, Johnny Robinson, Tommy Davis and Dietzel as well as assistant coaches Charlie McClendon and Carl Maddox. He earned the Iron Man Award during the 1958 championship season, leading the team in averaging more than 35 minutes of playing time a game.

Fugler was one of two centers selected to the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s all-time Louisiana collegiate team that was picked on the 100th anniversary of college football in 1969. Before starring at LSU, Fugler was an all-state pick and Ferriday High’s first All-American for LSHOF coach Johnny “Red” Robertson, helping build a state-record 54-game winning streak.

During Fugler’s five years on the team (he played as an eighth grader), Ferriday won four state championships and lost just four games in that stretch. Fugler played on high school and college teams that combined to go 68-8 while he was a member of those teams. He was an eighth-round pick (94th overall) of the San Francisco 49ers, but his career ended in his rookie season when he tore two cartilage and two ligaments in his knee.