Joseph Stanley Wendryhoski (March 1, 1939 – November 6, 2008) was a professional

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 who played

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

for five seasons in 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 ...

. Wendryhoski was born on March 1, 1939, in

West Frankfort, Illinois West Frankfort is a city in Franklin County, Illinois. The population was 8,182 at the 2010 census. The city is well known for its rich history of coal. The city is part of the Metro Lakeland area. History Although one might associate the name " ...

, where he attended

Frankfort Community High School Frankfort Community High School (FCHS) is a Public school (government funded), public high school located in West Frankfort, Illinois serving grades 9 to 12. The campus consists of five buildings: FCHS Main School Building, Max Morris Gymnasium, ...

. He played college football at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

from 1958 to 1961 and was voted all-

Big Ten Conference 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 ...

in 1960. At , 2-inches tall and 245 pounds, Wendryhoski played

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

and

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

. He was selected in the 1961

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

draft by the New York Titans, but did not sign with the club; instead Wendryhoski played briefly for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

that season. He played three seasons (1964-66) for Los Angeles, appearing in a total of 31 games for the team. Left unprotected in the 1967 NFL Expansion Draft, he became an inaugural member of the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. Wendryhoski anchored the Saints offense for two seasons (1967-68), playing every offensive

snap Snap or SNAP may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Snap'', the original release title for the 2013 film ''Enter the Dangerous Mind'' *''Snap'' (TV series), a CITV programme * ''The Stanly News and Press'', a newspaper in Albemarle, North Carol ...

as the starting center under head coach

Tom Fears Thomas Jesse Fears (December 3, 1922 – January 4, 2000) was a Mexican-American professional football player who was a split end for the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League (NFL), playing nine seasons from 1948 to 1956. He was lat ...

. He recovered a fumble for the Saints in 1968, the only fumble recovery of his career.Joe Wendryhoski
, database Football. Accessed November 8, 2008. Wendryhoski, along with several of his Saints teammates, appeared in the film ''Number One'', which starred

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist. As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...

as a fading New Orleans quarterback. After retiring from the Saints, Wendryhoski served as a vice president for the Saints Hall of Fame Museum (now located in the

Louisiana Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...

) from its inception in 1988. Wendryhoski lived in

Metairie, Louisiana Metairie ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area. With a population of 143,507 in 2020, Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish and was (a ...

, where he ran a real estate business, and also had a residence in Wisconsin. He died at age 69 on November 6, 2008, in

Twin Lakes, Wisconsin Twin Lakes is a village in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, along the Illinois-Wisconsin border. The Village of Twin Lakes, Wisconsin is located at the Illinois border east of US Highway 12 in western Kenosha Cou ...

, from cancer.Trahan, Ken
"Former Saint Joe Wendryhoski Passes Away"

, November 6, 2008.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wendryhoski, Joe 1939 births 2008 deaths American football offensive guards Canadian football offensive linemen Illinois Fighting Illini football players Los Angeles Rams players New Orleans Saints players BC Lions players People from West Frankfort, Illinois Deaths from cancer in Wisconsin Players of American football from Illinois