Forrest Blue, former center for 49ers and Colts, dead at 66

Forrest Blue, a quick, powerful center who made the Pro Bowl for the San Francisco 49ers from 1971 to 1974 and finished his career with the Baltimore Colts from 1975 to 1978, died Saturday at an assisted-living center in Carmichael, Calif. He was 66.

A first-round draft pick out of Auburn in 1968, Blue was a 49ers mainstay for seven seasons and was a first-team All-Pro in 1971 and 1972.

"You can't get around him," former San Diego Chargers defensive tackle Ron East once said. "And you don't go over him. There's really not much to say."

He retired after the 1978 season because of a degenerative disk and went on to become a general contractor and founded Forrest Blue Properties Inc. in the Sacramento, Calif., area.

Blue was beset in recent years by health and memory problems, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.