Edward John Anthony Rutkowski (born March 21, 1941) is a former American football player, and a former politician in Buffalo, New York. Rutkowski was a noted college and professional American football player. A wide receiver, he was an American Football League All-Star in 1965, playing for the AFL's

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

as a receiver, defensive back, punt and kickoff return man and backup quarterback from 1963 to 1968. In a famous Topps football card mixup, Rutkowski was shown on two Buffalo Bills' football cards, his own, and mistakenly on the card for

Ray Abruzzese Raymond Lewis Abruzzese Jr. (October 27, 1937 – August 22, 2011) was an American college and professional football player. Abruzzese was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A defensive back, he played college football at the University of A ...

. Rutkowski closed out his Pro Football career by playing seven games as a backup quarterback with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in 1969. From 1972-78 and again in 1990, Rutkowski served as a color commentator on the Bills' radio broadcasts. In 1979, he became the County Executive of Erie County, New York, succeeding Edward Regan, who stepped down to become New York State Comptroller. Rutkowski was elected to full terms in 1979 and 1983, following his one year unexpired term, for a total of nine years in office. In 1987, Rutkowski was defeated for reelection by Assemblyman Dennis Gorski. In 1995, Rutkowski was appointed by Governor George Pataki as deputy commissioner of the

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYS OPRHP) is a state agency within the New York State Executive Department Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law § 3.03. "The office of parks, recreation a ...

. In this post, he was charge of all state parks and recreations operations in Western New York, including Niagara Falls. He held the post for 12 years, until Pataki left office. He was the fourth quarterback from a Buffalo professional football team to enter politics, following his teammate

Jack Kemp Jack French Kemp (July 13, 1935 – May 2, 2009) was an American politician and a professional football player. A member of the Republican Party from New York, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bu ...

, George Ratterman and Tommy Hughitt. Incidentally, both Kemp and Rutkowski were

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. He is of Polish origin.Polish Americans / Helena Znaniecka Lopata, Mary Patrice Erdmans, p 140.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutkowski, Ed 1941 births Living people American athlete-politicians American Football League All-Star players American football wide receivers Buffalo Bills announcers Buffalo Bills players Erie County Executives New York (state) Republicans National Football League announcers Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players American politicians of Polish descent Players of American football from Buffalo, New York People from Kingston, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American Football League players

See also

References