Raymond Edward Apolskis (October 19, 1919 – June 30, 1960) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was an

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played eight seasons for the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

and served in the

U.S. 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 expeditionary ...

during

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 ...

Early life

Apolskis was born in

Cicero, Illinois Cicero is a town in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the population was 85,268, making it the 11th-most populous municipality in Illinois. The town is named after Marcus Tullius Cicero, a R ...

, and grew up 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 ...

. He graduated from

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 ...

, where he earned eleven varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball, and swimming.

College career

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 ...

for the Marquette Golden Avalanche where he was elected team captain as a sophomore. Apolskis entered his senior season in 1940 heralded as one of the top centers in the nation. His coach,

Paddy Driscoll John Leo "Paddy" Driscoll (January 11, 1895 – June 29, 1968) was an American professional football and baseball player and football coach. A triple-threat man in football, he was regarded as the best drop kicker and one of the best overall ...

, said of the solid son of Lithuanian immigrants: "Tell me everything that a center should do well and I'll tell you just what Apolskis can do. He's best on defense, roaming around against running plays and intercepting passes, but he is as good as they come in other departments, too." Apolskis was selected in the fifth round of the

1941 NFL draft The 1941 NFL draft was held on December 10, 1940, at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Bears selected halfback Tom Harmon. The Bears selected 24 players, but forfeited their final fou ...

by the Cardinals, who made him the 32nd overall pick of the draft.

Professional career

Apolskis began his NFL career in the

1941 NFL season The 1941 NFL season was the 22nd regular season of the National Football League (NFL). The league's ten teams each played a regular season schedule of 11 games, for a total of 55 regular season contests. The total attendance for these games was ...

, when the league used the

one-platoon system The one-platoon system, also known as "iron man football", is a platoon system, rule-driven substitution pattern in American football whereby the same players were expected to stay on the field for the entire game, playing both offense and defense ...

, with players playing on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. He was a starter as a rookie for the 1941 Cardinals. He missed the

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

and

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

seasons due to

and service 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 ...

. Apolskis returned to play in the 1945 season and was a member of the 1947 team that won the last

NFL Championship Throughout its history, the National Football league (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national ...

for the franchise. Although by this time the NFL had liberalized its substitution rules, making way for the

two-platoon system The two-platoon system is a tactic in American football enabled by rules allowing Free substitution, unlimited substitution adopted during the 1940s. The "two platoons", offense and defense, are an integral part of the game today. Although profess ...

, Apolskis continued to play both as a center on offensive and a

middle guard The Middle Guard () was a formation of the French Imperial Army's Imperial Guard. It was an intermediate force between the elite Old Guard and the less experienced Young Guard. It played a role in Napoleon's military campaigns, offering a balan ...

on defense. On June 15, 1950, Apolskis suffered acute

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

and underwent an emergency

appendectomy An appendectomy (American English) or appendicectomy (British English) is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedur ...

in Chicago, which was successful. This surgery proved to be only a temporary setback, however, and in September Apolskis signed a contract with the Cardinals for what would be an eighth season in the NFL. He retired after the 1950 season.

Life after football

In February 1951, Apolskis was selected for promotion to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Reserve is an expedi ...

. After football, Apolskis worked for a

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

company in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

Death and legacy

He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at the age of 40 in 1960.

References

External links

FOOTBALL AND AMERICA: WW II Honor Roll
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apolskis, Ray 1919 births 1960 deaths American people of Lithuanian descent American football offensive linemen Chicago Cardinals players Marquette Golden Avalanche football players Sportspeople from Cicero, Illinois Players of American football from Cook County, Illinois United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II