Ronald John Drzewiecki (January 25, 1933 – November 4, 2015) was a professional football player, a halfback and defensive back 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 ...

for the Chicago Bears in 1955 and

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

. He was selected by Chicago in the first round of the

1955 NFL Draft The 1955 National Football League draft was held January 27–28, 1955 at the Warwick Hotel in New York City. This was the ninth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery. With the previous eight winners ineligib ...

with the eleventh overall pick. He spent the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

season in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

and was cut from the Bears' training camp in mid-August

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

. Drzewiecki was offered more money in 1955 to play in Canada for the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-o ...

, but opted to play in the NFL with the Bears. He signed a contract with the Oakland Raiders in the spring of 1960, months prior to the first season of the American Football League. Born and raised in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, Drzewiecki graduated from Boys' Tech High School in 1951, and played college football at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Martin Henni, the first Bishop of the diocese of M ...

, also in Milwaukee, and was inducted into its athletic hall of fame in 1985. He died on November 4, 2015 at the age of 82.

Personal life

Drzewiecki was of Polish descent.

References

External links

* 1933 births 2015 deaths American football halfbacks Chicago Bears players Marquette Golden Avalanche football players Players of American football from Milwaukee American people of Polish descent {{Runningback-1930s-stub

Personal life

See also

References

External links