Leroy Gerald Monsky Sr. (April 12, 1916 – August 12, 1981) was an All-American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. Monsky was born in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, in 1916. He was an All-State football player at

Sidney Lanier High School Sidney Lanier High School is a public high school in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. History Established in 1910 on the southern outskirts of downtown Montgomery, Alabama, the school was named for a Southern poet, Sidney Lanier, who lived in ...

. After high school, Monsky enrolled at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

where he played on the Crimson Tide football teams from 1935 to 1937. He was selected as a consensus All-American in 1937 at the

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 ...

position. He was the captain of the 1937 Alabama football team that played in the

1938 Rose Bowl The 1938 Rose Bowl was the 24th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Saturday, January 1. The game featured the second-ranked California Golden Bears of the Pacific Coast Conference ( ...

. Noted sports writer Grantland Rice said of Monsky: "Leroy Monsky, amazingly fast for his size and power, was outstanding on both offense and defense and was a key man in the Alabama attack which specializes in the use of the guards . . . led many a charge that put Alabama in front after a strenuous tussle. His fighting courage was the deciding factor in most of these games." He was drafted in the seventh round of the 1938 NFL Draft. Monsky was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1979. After his football career ended, Monsky established a real estate business in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. He died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1981.

References

1916 births 1981 deaths American football guards Alabama Crimson Tide football players All-American college football players Players of American football from Montgomery, Alabama Jewish American sportspeople 20th-century American Jews {{offensive-lineman-1910s-stub

See also

References