Pandel Savic (July 15, 1925 – June 12, 2018) 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,

starting Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Starts use in sport race * Standing start, and rolling start, i ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for two years with the

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

Buckeyes. He originated from the village of

Dragoš Dragoš ( sr-Cyrl, Драгош; 1290s) was a magnate in the service of Serbian King Stefan Milutin (r. 1282–1321), with the title of '' veliki župan''. His origin is unknown. After Stefan Milutin defeated Despot Shishman of Vidin Shishma ...

, then in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Pandel Savic came to

Girard, Ohio Girard is a city in southern Trumbull County, Ohio, United States, along the Mahoning River. The population was 9,603 at the 2020 census. Located directly north of Youngstown, it is a suburb in the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. Hist ...

, United States, through

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

when he was a little boy. "It was the Steel Valley, and the only way to get out of there was to make it in sports," Savic said. "So I played basketball, baseball, track -- anything I could get my hands on." And so he did, he became a

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 ...

player for

. Savic joined the US Marine Corps in 1943, despite having landed a scholarship to Ohio State. He is a veteran of the Peleliu and

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

battles. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he went to Ohio State. He helped the 1949 Buckeyes to Ohio State's first

Rose Bowl Rose Bowl or Rosebowl may refer to: * Rose Bowl Game, an annual American college football game * Rose Bowl (stadium), Pasadena, California, site of the football game, and the home stadium of the UCLA Football team * Rose Bowl (cricket ground), West ...

win over California, gaining 16 total yards rushing and passing, including an important 6 yards on the ground to close out the remaining time and seal the Buckeye victory. The 1949 team also won a share of the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

title, with Savic throwing for 581 yards and six touchdowns on the season. In his later life, Savic went on to play an important role in the golf community and served as longtime chairman of the PGA's

Memorial Tournament The Memorial Tournament (branded as the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, Inc., Workday for sponsorship reasons, and also referred to as simply the Memorial) is a PGA Tour golf tournament founded in 1976 by Jack Nicklaus. It is played on ...

which he created with his friend

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

. In 2009, he was inducted into the Ohio State Hall of Fame. He died on June 12, 2018, at the age of 92.

References

External links

* 1925 births 2018 deaths American football quarterbacks Ohio State Buckeyes football players Players of American football from Ohio Golfers from Ohio Yugoslav emigrants to the United States Ohio State University alumni Military personnel from Ohio United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II People from Girard, Ohio {{quarterback-1920s-stub