Eldon Fortie

Who is Eldon Fortie?

Eldon Fortie was a college football player at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Dubbed "The Phantom" while at BYU, he was the first BYU football player to be named to a first-team All-America squad.

During his senior season, Fortie led the nation in total offense for eight weeks, and at the end of the season finished second behind Terry Baker with 1,963 total yards and 14 touchdowns. On September 29, 1962, Fortie ran for 272 yards in a single game in Provo against the George Washington University Colonials. That remains the single best running game of any BYU player in school history. Fortie's No. 40 was retired after that season, the first BYU student to have that honor.

Although Fortie was a quarterback, BYU ran the single wing offense at the time; consequently, Fortie was primarily a running back. He was selected to play in several all-star games after the 1962 season, including the North-South Bowl in Miami, the Hula Bowl, the All-American Game in Tucson, and the Coaches All-American Bowl.

After graduation Fortie played one year in the Canadian Football League with the Edmonton Eskimos.