Peter Andrew Banaszak (born May 21, 1944) is a former player of

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

and 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 wi ...

. A

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

, he played college football at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

, and played professionally in the American Football League for the Oakland Raiders from 1966 through

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, and for the

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Raiders from

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through 1978.

Career

Banaszak is from

Crivitz, Wisconsin Crivitz is a village in Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 984 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Marinette, WI– MI Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Crivitz was surveyed and plotted in the summer of ...

. Before his football career, while still a high school student, he considered becoming a priest. He finished his three-year career with the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

with 263 carries for 1,107 yards and nine touchdowns and 35 catches for 356 yards and three touchdowns. Banaszak finished his NFL career (all with the Raiders from 1966 to 1978) with 3,772 rushing yards, 121 receptions for 1,022 yards, and 51 touchdowns. He was known for "having a nose for the goal line". He was known by his Raider teammates and fans as "Rooster". Banaszak was a member of the Raiders during their first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl II. He also scored two touchdowns in the Raiders 32-14 win over the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

Super Bowl XI Super Bowl XI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for i ...

. He was also a part of the '

Holy Roller #REDIRECT Holy Roller {{R from other capitalisation ...

' play that led to rule changes in the NFL about advancing fumbles. Banaszak appeared to try to recover the ball on the 12-yard line, but could not keep his footing, and pitched the ball with both hands even closer to the end zone. Banaszak currently resides in the St. Augustine, Florida area and co-hosts the post game radio show for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

with Cole Pepper. He was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

References

External links

National Polish-American Sports HOF profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banaszak, Pete 1944 births Living people People from Crivitz, Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin American football running backs Miami Hurricanes football players Oakland Raiders players Jacksonville Jaguars announcers National Football League announcers American Football League players