Inductee Profile

Morton Shiekman

shof-2009-Morton_ShiekmanMorton Shiekman was born in Philadelphia in March of 1922 and at the age of fourteen tried out for and made the Overbrook High School varsity football team where he played for three years. Thus began a journey that would culminate as a draft choice of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL.
In 1939, he made first string on the University of Pennsylvania Freshman team when he was only seventeen years old. The next season he became Penn’s starter at the left offensive guard position where he excelled for three seasons.

At the end of his senior year, in which he was named All-East, he was invited to play in all three of the post collegiate bowl games. He chose the East-West All Star game and played in San Francisco’s Kezar Stadium on the first of January 1943.

That same season, he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League, but first enlisted in the US Army Air Corps. He was trained as a Navigator for the famed B-29 Aircraft and then was sent to the Second Air Force, which trained aircrews. However, before he could get airborne, he was pulled from flying duty to play football for the 2nd Air Force “Superbombers”. In November of 1944, Shiekman suffered his first football injury and it eventually ended his playing career. When he was discharged from the Air Force in 1946, he was forced to tell the Steelers “no more football” and never signed a contract.

In 1953, Shiekman was selected by the University of Pennsylvania Football Historians as a member of the “Modern Era Best in Position” team. It’s an honor he shared with Frank Reagan and Chuck Bednarik.
Mort Shiekman spends his winters at his home in Florida and summers in Margate. He is still active in his occupation as a fine wine importer and he is considered to be one of the world’s foremost authorities on French Bordeaux.