- Emil Sitko
NFL player
DateOfBirth=September 7 ,1923
Birthplace=Fort Wayne, Indiana
DateOfDeath=death date and age|1973|12|15|1923|09|7
Deathplace=Fort Wayne, Indiana
Position=Running back
College=Notre Dame
DraftedYear=1946
DraftedRound=1
DraftedPick=10 (By theLos Angeles Rams )
Stats=y
DatabaseFootball=SITKOEMI01
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years=1950
1951-1952
teams=San Francisco 49ers
Chicago Cardinals
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CollegeHOF=40039Emil "Red" Sitko was born in
Fort Wayne, Indiana onSeptember 7 ,1923 . He earned the nickname of "Red" due to his red hair. He attended Central High School in Fort Wayne. At only 5'8" and 180 pounds he was not considered a big man. "Emil wasn't very big as football players go -- even for those days," Irish coachFrank Leahy once said. "But he was the fastest starting back I ever coached." [http://jordan.fortwayne.com/ns/sports/top50/sitko.php]Emil Sitko served in a military capacity during
World War II and did not enter directly into college. Upon coming out of service in World War II, he enrolled at Notre Dame as a 23-year-old freshman. He was a starter on the football team three years at right half and one year at fullback from 1946-1949. In those four years the Notre Dame record was 36-0-2. Besides his nickname of "Red," he was known in football as "Six- Yard Sitko." He led his team in rushing all four years and his career average was 6.1 yards a try. In 1949 he also led the team in kickoff returns, averaging 22 yards. He made theAll-America teams of the "Sporting News " and theFootball Writers Association of America in 1948 and was unanimous All-America in 1949. [http://collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=40039] Emil also finished eighth in the 1949Heisman Trophy voting behind teammateLeon Hart . He also won the 1949Walter Camp Award as outstanding college player. Sitko still stands seventh on Notre Dame's career rushing charts. [http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/archive/allambios/nd-m-footbl-sitko.html] .Sitko played three seasons in the NFL for the
San Francisco 49ers and theChicago Cardinals before retiring and returning to his hometown to work in the auto sales business. He died in 1973, at age 50, after aheart attack . He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame and theNational Football Foundation in 1984.
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