Bob "Shoo Shoo" Shemonski (c. 1933 – c. 2001) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

as an

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

and

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column run ...

for the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

and was selected in the

1952 NFL Draft The 1952 National Football League Draft was held on January 17, 1952, at Hotel Statler in New York. Selections made by New York Yanks were assigned to the new Dallas Texans. This was the sixth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick de ...

by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

Biography

A native of

Archbald, Pennsylvania Archbald is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is named for James Archbald, the first mayor of Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Before being renamed in Archbald's honor, the name of the settlement was ...

, Shemonski was born circa 1933. He attended the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

and played on the varsity football team under head coach

Jim Tatum Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James (given name), James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy (given name), Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * Jim (comics), ...

from 1949 to 1951.Year-By-Year Results
(PDF), ''2007 Terrapin Football Record Book'', University of Maryland, 2007, retrieved January 16, 2009. During that period, Maryland posted a 26-3-1 record. Shemonski scored five touchdowns in the 1950 game against

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

, which remains a school record to date. Shemonski remains in the school's top-ten in numerous other categories as well: career and single-game yards per carry; career, single-season, and single-game rushing touchdowns; single-season all-purpose yards; career yards per kick return; single-season punt returns; career and single-season punt return yards; career and single-season yards per punt return; single-season points; career and single-season touchdowns. He earned the nickname "Shoo Shoo", as explained by Maryland guard Bob Ward, "The guy stood right in front of me in the huddle and never said one word the whole time we played together."50 years ago, Terps ruled; Time has smudged memories of '51 team, but not even '01 UM is match for its feats; College Football: 1951 Terps
''The Baltimore Sun'', November 23, 2001. In 1949, Tatum's third year, Maryland posted a 9–1 record with a loss only to 13th-ranked

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. In the postseason, Shemonski scored two of the Terps' three touchdowns in the 1950 Gator Bowl win over

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. In 1950, Shemonski was the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

season scoring leader with 97 points. At the time, that was also a new school record and exceeded

Lu Gambino Lucien Anthony "Lu" Gambino (September 21, 1923 – July 16, 2003) was an American football running back. He played college football for Indiana University, and after military service in the Second World War, the University of Maryland, College Pa ...

's 96 points in 1947. That year, he was the team's leading rusher with 101 carries for 560 yards and kickoff-return leader with ten returns for 259 yards. In 1951, he was again the team kickoff return leader with six returns for 126 yards (a 21.0 yard average). Shemonski played for Maryland in their 1952 Sugar Bowl victory over first-ranked Tennessee. He set the Maryland record for single-game

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s with three, which was later tied by Tom Brown and Bob Sullivan in 1965. He participated in the 1952

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

, alongside fellow Terps

Ed Modzelewski Ed Modzelewski (January 13, 1929 – February 28, 2015) was an American football fullback, who played in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns. He played college football for the University of Maryland ...

and Bob Ward. The

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

selected Shemonski in the thirtieth round (356 overall) of the

. After two years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, he played for the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

as a halfback in 1955.Morris sparkles for Calgary club
''The Leader-Post'', August 8, 1955. He died prior to 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shemonski, Bob 1930s births People from Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Maryland Terrapins football players Chicago Bears players Ottawa Rough Riders players American football running backs American football defensive backs Canadian football running backs American players of Canadian football United States Army soldiers 1986 deaths