Teddy Peter Topor (May 1, 1930 June 5, 2017) was an

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 with ...

player who played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He played college football for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and professional football for the

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 ...

Early years

Topor was born in

East Chicago, Indiana East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing ac ...

in 1930 and graduated from East Chicago Roosevelt High School in 1949. He played on two Indiana state championship teams and was an Honorable Mention All-American high school player in 1948.

University of Michigan

Topor enrolled at the

where he played football for the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...

teams from 1950 to 1952. He played on the

1950 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1950 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1950 Big Ten Conference football season. Coached by Bennie Oosterbaan, the Wolverines won the Big Ten Conference champion ...

that won the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championship and defeated the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

in the

1951 Rose Bowl The 1951 Rose Bowl was the 37th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on Monday, January 1. The ninth-ranked Michigan Wolverines, champions of the Big Ten Conference, defeated the California Go ...

. A two-way player, Topor started seven games at quarterback and eight games as linebacker for the 1951 Wolverines. Ted Topor with football

In 1951, Topor also "became the center of a faculty dispute over whether Michigan employed double scholastic standards for athletes and nonathletes." Topor left the campus for a time, but he returned in 1952. Head coach

Bennie Oosterbaan Benjamin Oosterbaan ( ; February 24, 1906 – October 25, 1990) was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team, and an All-Big Ten C ...

reported that Topor had both improved his school work and "emerged as a man." In September 1952, a feature story from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

reported that a fit and dedicated Topor had reinvigorated the Wolverines with a new spirit:

"Not the least of the factors in Michigan's dark horse role in the 1952 football campaign is an improved team spirit. And Coach Benny Oosterbaan and his staff attribute much of this to Ted Topor, the 212-pound senior quarterback from East Chicago, Ind."

Topor started all nine games at quarterback for the 1952 Wolverines and was selected as the team's Most Valuable Player.

Detroit Lions

Topor was selected by the

in the

1953 NFL Draft The 1953 National Football League Draft was held on January 22, 1953, at Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. Selections made by the folded Dallas Texans were assigned to the new Baltimore Colts. This was the seventh year that the first ove ...

. Before starting his professional football career, he was inducted into the U.S. Army during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Topor was one of 226 NFL personnel who served in the military during the Korean War. After serving two years in the military, Topor was discharged in September 1955 and played at the

position for the

in the

1955 NFL season The 1955 NFL season was the 36th regular season of the National Football League. NBC paid $100,000 to replace DuMont as the national television network for the NFL Championship Game. The season ended when the Cleveland Browns defeated the Los ...

. However, his football career was cut short by injuries.

Later years

After his playing career ended, Topor was the coach of the semi-pro Calumet Steelers for several years in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Topor was inducted into the

Indiana Football Hall of Fame The Indiana Football Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in Richmond, Indiana. It honors persons associated with high school, college and professional American football in Indiana. It also works to establish scholarships and endowments ...

in 2003.

Personal life

Topor means

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many for ...

in Romanian language.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topor, Ted 1930 births 2017 deaths American football linebackers American football quarterbacks Detroit Lions players Michigan Wolverines football players United States Army personnel of the Korean War Sportspeople from East Chicago, Indiana Players of American football from Indiana American people of Romanian descent