Edward Thomas Mieszkowski (October 14, 1925 – February 15, 2004) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

tackle who played two seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers of the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a major professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many ...

(AAFC). He was selected by the Boston Yanks in the seventh round of the 1946 NFL draft. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

and attended Tilden High School in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Early life

Mieszkowski participated in

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

and wrestling at Tilden High School.

College career

Mieszkowski played for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 1943 to 1945. He played in the 1946 College All-Star Game against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

Professional career

Mieszkowski was selected by the Boston Yanks with the 52nd pick in the 1946 NFL Draft. He played in 23 games, starting seven, for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1946 to 1947.

Coaching career

Mieszkowski was a coach at Mt. Carmel High School from 1948 to 1954. He first served as a coach under

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Terry Brennan and the team won several city championships. He became head coach upon the departure of Brennan and then won several championships. Mieszkowski became the line coach at Marquette University in 1956 and spent several years there.

Personal life

Mieszkowski started the Tilden Tech Alumni Association and later took over Notre Dame's Monogram Club, an alumni association for athletes. He developed progressive multiple sclerosis in 1954. He became a financial planner after his coaching career. Mieszkowski died on February 15, 2004, at his home in Lombard, Illinois due to complications from multiple sclerosis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mieszkowski, Ed 1925 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American financial businesspeople American football tackles Brooklyn Dodgers (AAFC) players Marquette Golden Avalanche football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players High school football coaches in Illinois Players of American football from Chicago Businesspeople from Illinois Financial planners Neurological disease deaths in Illinois Deaths from multiple sclerosis People with multiple sclerosis