George Paul Platukis (March 15, 1915–May 17, 1973) 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 ...

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 ...

who played five seasons in the

NFL 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 major ...

with the

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 club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

and the

Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to 194 ...

. He later became a high school teacher and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach.

Early life

Platukis was born in

West Hazleton, Pennsylvania West Hazleton is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough is south of Wilkes Barre and had a population of 5,167 as of the 2020 census. History West Hazleton was founded by Conrad Horn, and it was officially establish ...

and attended West Hazleton High School. He matriculated at

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pittsbu ...

Football career

Platukis was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the sixth round of the 1938 NFL Draft. He played for the Pirates (renamed the Steelers in 1941) for four seasons. Platukis was traded by the Pittsburgh Steelers in August 1942 to the

in exchange for John Binotto and Milt Simington. He spent a final season with the Rams.

Post-football career

After completing his football career, Platukis returned to Hazleton, Pennsylvania where he became a high school teacher and head baseball coach at his alma mater, West Hazleton High School.

Personal life

Platukis was married to Irene Pekala. The couple had four children: George Jr., Paulette, Paul and James. He was an ardent fisherman. He died of an apparent heart attack on May 17, 1973, while on a fishing trip near his home with his son and grandson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Platukis, George 1915 births 1973 deaths American football ends American football defensive ends Player-coaches Duquesne Dukes football players First Air Force Aces football coaches First Air Force Aces football players Cleveland Rams players Pittsburgh Steelers players People from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania