Joseph Anthony Dudek (born January 22, 1964) is a former

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 wi ...

player. Dudek received national attention when he was featured on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

's'' December 2, 1985, issue as the magazine's pick for the Heisman Trophy after he broke

Walter Payton Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1953Although most sources at the time of his death gave Payton's birth year as 1954, reliable sources subsequently state he was born in 1953. – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back who played ...

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

record for career touchdowns. Dudek finished ninth in the voting, the best result ever for a non- Division I player. Dudek finished his collegiate career with ten school records. He holds the NCAA record for career 100-yard rushing games (30) and games with two or more touchdowns (24). Plymouth State went 37–6 during his time there, reaching the

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location fr ...

playoffs twice and earning their first-ever NCAA playoff appearance. To this date, his jersey is the only one that Plymouth State has retired. Dudek played two games for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

in 1987 (during the 1987 NFL players' strike), rushing for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Dudek was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997. He lives in Auburn, New Hampshire, with his wife and their two children, working for Southern Wine & Spirits. His son, Joey, plays

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

at Boston College and was drafted 152nd overall in the

2014 NHL Entry Draft The 2014 NHL Entry Draft was the 52nd NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 27–28, 2014 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The top three selections were Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart and Leon Draisaitl, going to the F ...

by the New Jersey Devils."Devils' draft pick Joey Dudek is son of college football legend Joe Dudek" ''NJ.com''
June 28, 2014

References

1964 births Living people American football running backs College Football Hall of Fame inductees Denver Broncos players North Quincy High School alumni People from Auburn, New Hampshire Plymouth State Panthers football players Sportspeople from Quincy, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Rockingham County, New Hampshire National Football League replacement players {{collegefootball-player-stub