Walter Stanley Szot (March 30, 1920 – November 3, 1981) 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 ...

tackle who played five seasons 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) with 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

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. He was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals in the 18th round of the

1944 NFL draft The 1944 NFL draft was held on April 19, 1944, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Perhaps as a tip of the hat to wartime sensibilities, the 1944 draft was officially called the "1943 Preferred Negotiations List" by the league. ...

. He played prep football at

East Rutherford High School East Rutherford High School was a public high school that operated as part of the East Rutherford School District in East Rutherford, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. History The district's initial high school program began in ...

in his hometown of

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an inner suburb, inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 Unit ...

Walt Szot
Pro Football Archives. Accessed October 16, 2020. "High School: East Rutherford (NJ)" and 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

Bucknell Bison The Bucknell Bison are the athletic teams that represent Bucknell University. The program is a member of the Patriot League for most NCAA Division I sports and Division I FCS in football. List of sports History The Bucknell Bison are the a ...

College career

Szot was a three-year starter for the

. He was co-captain of the 1943 Bison team. He earned first-team all-state honors in 1943 while also garnering All-East and All-America recognition. Szot also earned second-team All-Pennsylvania honors in 1942. He was on the boxing team for one year and was president of the "B" Club his senior year. He was inducted into the Bucknell Hall of Fame in 1993.

Professional career

Szot was selected by the

with the 176th pick in the

. He played in 33 games, starting one, for the Cardinals from 1946 to 1948. Szot played in 23, starting two, for the

from 1949 to 1950.

Personal life

Szot served 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 ...

for three years during World War II prior to joining the Chicago Cardinals. In 1951, Szot, a Marine reservist, was recalled to active duty during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szot, Walt 1920 births 1981 deaths American football tackles Bucknell Bison football players Chicago Cardinals players East Rutherford High School alumni Pittsburgh Steelers players United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War United States Marine Corps reservists People from East Rutherford, New Jersey Players of American football from Bergen County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Clifton, New Jersey Players of American football from Passaic County, New Jersey