Mitchell Olenski (January 13, 1920 – June 13, 2000) was an American football player and coach. Olenski played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the Alabama Crimson Tide, while serving in the Army at Fort Warren and then professionally with the

Miami Seahawks The Miami Seahawks were a professional American football team based in Miami, Florida. They played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in the league's inaugural season, 1946, before the team was relocated to Baltimore. They are notable ...

and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. He also served as a coach for the Alabama Informals football team in their lone 1943 season and at Fort Warren in 1944 and 1945.

University of Alabama

Olenski played his first season with the Crimson Tide as a member of their freshmen team for the 1940 season. He then started at tackle for Alabama in both the

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

and 1942 seasons. After the university canceled the 1943 season, Olenski served as a coach for the Alabama Informals. The squad was composed of 17-year-old and draft deferred students and after a loss to , the Informals defeated Marion Military Institute twice and finished the season with an overall record of two wins and one loss.

Professional career

Olenski was taken in the ninth round as the 78th overall pick in the

1944 NFL Draft The 1944 National Football League Draft was held on April 19, 1944, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Boston Yanks selected quarterback Angelo Bertelli. Player selections Round ...

by the

Brooklyn Tigers The Brooklyn Dodgers were an American football team that played in the National Football League from 1930 to 1943, and in 1944 as the Brooklyn Tigers. The team played its home games at Ebbets Field of the baseball National League's team, the Broo ...

. He never played a game with the Tigers, and instead enlisted in United States Army. Olenski was stationed at Fort Warren in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he also played defensive tackle and served as an assistant coach for the base team, the Fort Warren Broncos. For his performance on the field in 1944, Olenski was named to the 1944 All-Rocky Mountain Team. On September 9, 1945, he was signed by the

of the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

for their 1946 season for whom he would play after he finished the 1945 season at Fort Warren. With the Seahawks, Olenski played for one of his former coaches at Alabama,

Hank Crisp Henry Gorham Crisp (December 10, 1896 – January 23, 1970) was an American football, basketball, baseball and track coach and college athletics administrator. In spite of an accident when he was 13 years old that resulted in the loss of his ...

, and was a starter at the tackle position for the duration of the season. After his first season in Miami, Olenski was signed by the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

in July 1947, but was subsequently cut on August 26. He was then signed by the

where he played tackle for their 1947 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olenski, Mitchell 1920 births 2000 deaths Alabama Crimson Tide football players Baltimore Colts (1947–1950) players Brooklyn Tigers players Camp Lee Travellers football players Detroit Lions players Fort Warren Broncos football players Miami Seahawks players United States Army personnel of World War II People from Benton, Illinois People from Endicott, New York People from Vestal, New York Players of American football from New York (state) Military personnel from New York (state)