James David Haluska (October 9, 1932 – September 20, 2012) 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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who played for 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 ...

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 ...

(NFL). Selected in the 30th and final round (354th overall pick) of the

1954 NFL draft The 1954 National Football League Draft was held on January 28, 1954, at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. This was the eighth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery. With the previous seven winners i ...

, he played in five games in the 1956 season, where he completed one of four passes for a total of eight yards.

Early life

Nicknamed "Bombo" in his youth, he attended

St. Catherine's High School (Racine, Wisconsin) St. Catherine's High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Racine, Wisconsin. It is a member of Siena Catholic Schools of Racine and the Catholic Schools of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee. History St. Catherine's tr ...

, Class of 1950, where he was named all-conference in football and basketball. Haluska launched his collegiate career at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, later transferring to the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. With fellow

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

, native and 1954

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

winner

Alan Ameche Alan Ameche (; June 1, 1933 – August 8, 1988), nicknamed "The Iron Horse", or simply "The Horse", was an American football player who played six seasons with the Baltimore Colts in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football ...

in his backfield at Wisconsin, Haluska led the Badgers to the 1952

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

title and a spot in the

1953 Rose Bowl The 1953 Rose Bowl was the 39th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Thursday, January 1, at the end of the 1952 college football season. The fifth-ranked USC Trojans of the Pacific Coast C ...

, which the Badgers lost to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, 7–0. Haluska set Wisconsin school records in the 1952 season for yards passing (1,552) and touchdowns (12). Haluska represented Wisconsin in the 1955

Blue–Gray Football Classic The Blue–Gray Football Classic was an annual American college football all-star game held in Alabama, usually in late December and often on Christmas Day. The brainchild of Alabama college football legend Champ Pickens, the contest began in ...

and 1956

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 ...

. He also played in the 1956

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College All-Star Game.

High school coaching career

As head coach at Don Bosco High School (later St. Thomas More High School) in Milwaukee, Haluska led the Cavaliers varsity football squad to its first Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association (WISAA) state championship, defeating a team fielded by Fond du Lac St. Mary's Springs High School on November 13, 1976 at Titan Stadium in

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh. History Oshkosh was ...

. His high school teams won 12 conference championships and three WISAA state titles. He finished with a career record of 206-60-4 coaching at Milwaukee Don Bosco, Milwaukee Thomas More, Milwaukee Pius XI and Waukesha Catholic Memorial. His coaching legacy includes the "quick kick" on second down, "form tackling", the "sleeper "play", and the "double pass". Haluska was inducted into the UW Athletic Department Hall of Fame in 2012 and was a 2001 inductee of the

Wisconsin Football Coaches Association The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association is an association of American football coaches on all levels within the state of Wisconsin. An annual clinic of members is held in Madison, Wisconsin to promote the sport, primarily at the high school lev ...

Hall of Fame.

Awards and honors

* 1995 Don Bosco High School Hall of Fame * 1998 St. Catherine's High School Athletic Hall of Fame * 2001 WFCA Hall of Fame *2011 St. Thomas More High School Athletic Hall of Fame * 2012 UW Athletic Department Hall of Fame *2015 St. Thomas More High School creates "Coach Jim Haluska Wall of Champions" *2021 Racine County Sports Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haluska, Jim 1932 births 2012 deaths Sportspeople from Racine, Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin American football quarterbacks Wisconsin Badgers football players Chicago Bears players