William “Flop” Flora, a teammate of the great Bennie Oosterbaan both in high school and college, ranks as one of the great football linemen from the Muskegon area. Flora was an all-state tackle on J. Francis Jacks’ mythical state champion Muskegon Big Red grid teams of 1920 and 1921. After high school, he enrolled at the University of Michigan and became a standout end for the Wolverines from 1924 to 1926. In his first year with the Michigan varsity, Coach George Little converted Flora from tackle to end and he remained a starter at that position for the balance of his three-year career with the Wolverines. He removed all doubts of his worth in the Illinois game that season by proving to be the only Wolverine able to bottle up the explosive running threat of the immortal Red Grange.

University of Michigan Flop FloraIn 1925, the great Fielding Yost returned as head coach and solidified the Muskegon tandem of ends when Oosterbaan joined the squad to hold down the other end position along with Flora. A solid two-way player, Flop earned his nickname through his ferocious tackling – many an opposing player found himself “flopped” to the turf by the big junior. In the Navy contest that year, Flora executed one of the most remarkable plays in football history when he charged the Navy punter in his own end zone and literally snatched the pigskin from the punter’s foot to give the Wolverines another touchdown in a 54-0 rout. Although playing in the shadow of Oosterbaan, his All-American teammate and college roommate, Flop’s contribution to Michigan’s winning teams earned him a selection to the East-West Shrine game in his senior year – an honor reserved for only the nation’s finest collegiate gridders.

Offered the chance to play professional football with Frankford (later christened the Philadelphia Eagles) and other early NFL franchises, Flora continued his graduate studies at Michigan’s School of Medicine and eventually became a successful physician in the Detroit area, specializing in Urology. In his spare time, he served as an assistant football coach at Wayne State University for several years. He served with the US Navy in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Flora retired in 1974 after over 40 years in his chosen field and died in Arizona in 1978.