Eugene Frank Selawski (November 28, 1935 – May 11, 1993) 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. He was a first-team All-American tackle at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

in 1958 and played three years of professional football for 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 ...

(1959),

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

(1960) and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

(1961).

Early years

Selawski was born and raised in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, and graduated from John Adams High School. He then attended Purdue University where 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 tackle position for the

Purdue Boilermakers football The Purdue Boilermakers football team represents Purdue University in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of college football. Purdue plays its home games at Ross–Ade Stadium on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. ...

team from 1956 to 1958. He was selected by the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

as a first-team tackle on its

1958 College Football All-America Team The 1958 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1958. The six selectors recognized by the ...

Career

Selawski was drafted by the

in the ninth round of the

1958 NFL draft The 1958 NFL draft had its first four rounds held on December 2, 1957, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 28, 1958. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. This was the 12th and final year in which the first over ...

and played for the Rams in 12 games during the

1959 NFL season The 1959 NFL season marked the 40th regular season of the National Football League. It was the 14th and final season overseen by commissioner Bert Bell, as he died of a heart attack on October 11. A twelve-game season was played, culminating i ...

. In 1960, he returned to Ohio to play in 12 games for his hometown

. In 1961, he jumped to the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

, appearing in eight games for the

Death

Selawski died May 9, 1993, at age 57, in

Duluth, Georgia Duluth ( ) is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. Located north of Interstate 85, it is approximately northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Duluth had a population of 31,873, and the United Stat ...

References

1935 births 1993 deaths American football tackles Oakland Raiders players Purdue Boilermakers football players John Adams High School (Ohio) alumni Players of American football from Cleveland 20th-century American sportsmen {{Offensive-lineman-1930s-stub