Paul Michael "Socko" Szakash (May 5, 1913 – October 24, 1984) 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 ...

player. Szakash was born in

Chicago 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 ...

in 1913. He attended

Fenger High School Fenger Academy High School is a public 4–year high school located in the Roseland neighborhood on the far south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Fenger is a part of the Chicago Public Schools district and is named for Danish surgeon ...

in Chicago. He played football at Fenger in 1929 and 1930 and then for the Gano Athletic Club from 1934 to 1937. He next attended the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

and played college football as a fullback and place-kicker for the

Montana Grizzlies football The Montana Grizzlies football (commonly referred to as the "Griz") program represents the University of Montana in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of college football. The Grizzlies have competed in the Big Sky Conferen ...

team. After playing every minute of every game in 1935, he missed the 1936 season after sustaining a ruptured appendix. During his recovery, he helped coach the freshmen. He returned to the team as a player in 1937. He was selected by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

with the 56th pick in the

1938 NFL draft The 1938 NFL draft was held on December 12, 1937, at the Sherman House Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The draft consisted of 12 rounds and 110 player selections. It began with the Cleveland Rams using the first overall pick of the draft to selec ...

. During his first training camp with the Lions, the ''Detroit Free Press'' reported that he "showed more drive in plunging than any other young man who ever came to the Detroit camp." He played four seasons with the Lions, appearing in 38 games, 13 as a starter, from 1938 to 1939 and 1941 to 1942. He played at the end and fullback positions. He carried the ball 23 times for 66 yards and caught nine passes for 130 yards. Szakash also played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

as a catcher for the Missoula club for several years. He missed the 1940 NFL season with a fractured ankle sustained while playing baseball in Montana. In March 1945, Szakash enlisted in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

. He fought at the

Battle of Iwo Jima The was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, desi ...

. He also saw action at the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Impe ...

. Szakash served as the line coach at the University of Montana from 1946 to 1950. Szakash later operated a frozen food business. He died in 1984 at

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Szakash, Paul 1913 births 1984 deaths American football ends American football fullbacks Detroit Lions players Montana Grizzlies football players United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Marines Coaches of American football from Illinois Players of American football from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois