How the DNA of the Singletary family disappeared from the Negro pro wrestling circuit and rematerialized in the NFL Hall of Fame.
When Chicago was selected as one of the three locations for WrestleMania 2, Chicago Bears defensive tackle William “Refrigerator” Perry—fresh off of a victory in Super Bowl XX—was quickly selected to make an appearance in the battle that would serve as the featured attraction at Chicago’s Rosemont Horizon. If the World Wrestling Federation planners had known their wrestling history, they might have set their sights on the player wearing number 50, and slotted just a few feet behind Perry in the Bears’ vaunted scheme known as the 46 defense.
Given the effortlessness of the havoc wreaked by Hall of Fame middle linebacker Mike Singletary on what was arguably the greatest defense in the history of the National Football League, it’s tempting to think that such physical gifts would be isolated to a sole individual in a family lineage. Certainly, such gifts could be bestowed only once in a century.
Once in a generation might be more like it, at least when the gene pool is as deep and prolific as the Texas Singletarys, and when a generation consists of as many as 10 offspring. Mike Singletary was the 10ht child born to Charles Singletary, who was himself the sixth child born to John and Lillie Singletary of Kaufman, Texas. Just a few places beneath Charles in the birth order was child number nine, Grady Singletary, born on December 9th of 1926. Between 1949 and 1967, Grady Singletary was known to professional wrestling fans by multiple names, but the most frequent of these was Tex Brady.
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