Toni Fritsch

Infobox Football biography
playername = Toni Fritsch


fullname = Anton Fritsch
height =
dateofbirth = birth date|1945|7|10
cityofbirth = Petronell-Carnuntum
countryofbirth = Austria
dateofdeath = Death date and age|2005|9|13|1945|7|10
cityofdeath = Vienna
countryofdeath = Austria
currentclub = deceased
clubnumber =
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1963-1971
clubs = Rapid Wien
caps(goals) = 123 (15)
nationalyears = 1965-1968
nationalteam = Austria
nationalcaps(goals) = 009 0(2)
manageryears =
managerclubs =
pcupdate = 28 June 2008
ntupdate = 28 June 2008

NFL player


ImageWidth=
DateOfBirth=birth date|1945|7|10|mf=y
Birthplace=Petronell-Carnuntum, Austria
DateOfDeath=death date and age|2005|9|13|1945|7|10|mf=y
Deathplace=Vienna, Austria
Position=Kicker
College=
DraftedYear=
DraftedRound=
DatabaseFootball=FRITSTON01
PFR=
years=1971-1975
1976
1977-1981
1982
teams=Dallas Cowboys
San Diego Chargers
Houston Oilers
New Orleans Saints
ProBowls=1980
HOF=

Anton "Toni" Fritsch (* July 10, 1945 - † September 13, 2005) was an Austrian footballer who later started a successful career in American football in the United States.

occer career

Toni Fritsch started to play football (soccer) at an early age and joined the Austrian record titleholder Rapid Vienna at the age of 13. After six seasons, he was admitted to the club's first league team and played his first professional game in fall 1964. During his time there, he played 123 games for Rapid, scoring 15 goals. The team won the Austrian Championship three times (1964, 1967, 1968) and the Austrian Cup twice (1968, 1969). He was described as a small, but extremely fast striker.

Fritsch played for the Austria national football team nine times. He scored two goals when Austria defeated England 3-2 in London's Wembley Stadium on October 20, 1965, from which his nickname "Wembley-Toni" is derived. This was only the third time for a continental team to beat England at home (following Hungary in 1953 and Sweden in 1959).

American football

In 1971, Tom Landry, coach of the Dallas Cowboys, went to Europe looking for strong-legged soccer players. The first city he went to was Vienna, and the first player he tried was Toni Fritsch. Though hardly speaking any English at all, Fritsch decided to take a chance. He accepted the offer, moved to the US and joined the NFL team as a placekicker. In 1972, he won the Super Bowl with his team, and remains the only Austrian having done so. In 1976, he switched to the San Diego Chargers, and later he played for the Houston Oilers, the New Orleans Saints and the USFL's Houston Gamblers. In 1980, he was voted into the Pro Bowl. He scored 758 points in 125 games during his 11-year NFL career, among those 317 for Dallas. His NFL record of having kicked a field goal in 13 straight playoff games has been beaten by Adam Vinatieri on January 13, 2007.

Even though Fritsch worked for his former Austrian football (soccer) club Rapid Vienna for one year in 1992/1993, he remained a resident of Houston throughout the rest of his life.

Death

On September 13, 2005, Toni Fritsch suddenly collapsed on a Vienna street after a meal at a restaurant. He died of heart failure at the age of 60.

Honours (soccer)

*Austrian Football Bundesliga (3):
** 1964, 1967, 1968
*Austrian Cup (2):
** 1968, 1969

External links

* [http://www.msbn.tv/displayPage.aspx?id=682 Interview with Toni Fritsch]
* [http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/Kind=512/newsId=380728.html Biography] - UEFA
* [http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=26888 Soccer career stats] - National Football Teams
* [http://www.rapidarchiv.at/ Rapid profile] - Rapid archiv