Leopold Victor "Leo" Rucka (August 18, 1931 – January 4, 2016) was an American professional football player who played Linebacker/Center for the San Francisco 49ers during the

1956 NFL season The 1956 NFL season was the 37th regular season of the National Football League. With previous television partner DuMont Television Network ending operations prior to the 1956 season, CBS began carrying regular season games across its network na ...

. He was drafted in the 2nd round 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 was picked 23rd overall out of 360 draft picks in the 1954 draft. Leo was born in Wooster, an area of

Baytown, TX Baytown is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Harris and Chambers counties. Located in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area, it lies on the northern side of the Galveston Bay complex near the outlets of th ...

, on August 18, 1931, and graduated from

Crosby High School (Texas) Crosby High School is a public high school in Crosby, a community in unincorporated Harris County, Texas. Approximately 1,600 students are enrolled in grades 9 through 12. Crosby High School is located off FM 2100, approximately 35 miles north ...

in 1950, where he excelled in football, basketball, and all other major sports. He was a resident of Crosby, TX. He was Married to his wife of over 60 years, Lillian Rucka. They had 5 children, 11 grandchildren, and several great grandchildren. He attended College at Rice University and was inducted into the Rice Football Hall of Fame in 1996. During his senior year at Rice, Leo helped the Rice Owls defeat the University of Texas in the final seconds for the Southwest Conference title. He described it as his "biggest college thrill". He also co-captained the team the season they won the Cotton Bowl Championship in 1954 against Alabama. He played in 5 NFL games, He had 1 documented fumble recovery, tackle data is not available from that year. Leo left the NFL to fulfill Army obligations as an aviation engineer. He served in Far East during the Korean War for 20 months. He was named to the All-Service Team. During his time 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 ...

he was 6'3", 212 lbs. His teammates nicknamed him "The Quiet Man". Rucka died on January 4, 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rucka, Leo 1931 births 2016 deaths Rice Owls football players San Francisco 49ers players Sportspeople from Harris County, Texas People from Baytown, Texas People from Crosby, Texas