Thomas Edward Skladany (born June 29, 1955) is a former

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 ...

punter who is widely considered to be, along with

Ray Guy William Ray Guy (December 22, 1949 – November 3, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a punter for the Oakland / Los Angeles Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Guy was a first-team All-American selection ...

, one of the two greatest punters in college football history. Skladany later played in the NFL from 1978–1983. Skladany, the only three-time first-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n punter in college history, made Big Ten history in 1973 when he became the first specialty player given a football scholarship in Big Ten football history. Skladany was considered by Street & Smith's and Parade to be the consensus number one high school kicker and punter in America in 1972. Skladany turned down scholarship offers from Michigan, Penn State and hometown Pittsburgh to sign with

Woody Hayes Wayne Woodrow Hayes (February 14, 1913 – March 12, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University (1946–1948), Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (1949–1950), and Ohio State University (1951 ...

and Ohio State. Skladany was a three-time

n at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

(

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

–

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

). Skladany, the Cleveland Browns' second pick in 1977, made professional sports history when he held out the entire season in a contract dispute, becoming the first-ever NFL draft pick to hold out a full season. His rights were traded to the Detroit Lions after the 1977 season. Skladany was selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

after the 1981 season and named first-team All Pro in 1978 and 1981. A back injury ended Skladany's career prematurely in 1983 while punting for the Philadelphia Eagles. Skladany comes from a football family of note. Tom's uncle, Leo blocked a field goal as regulation time expired in the 1949 NFL championship game to propel the Philadelphia Eagles to the NFL title over the Los Angeles Rams. Another uncle, Joe "Muggsy" Skladany is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and played for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in 1941 before enlisting in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Tom's uncle Ed Skladany turned down the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

to sign with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

in 1945. Tom's brother Joe Skladany was an All-American linebacker at LaFayette University in 1981, and played for Arizona Wranglers of the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

in 1982. After retiring from the NFL in 1983, Tom opened an American Speedy Printing Center in suburban Columbus, Ohio, and raised four daughters, all of whom played Division I collegiate soccer. His daughter, Karly, married

'N Sync NSYNC (, ; also stylized as *NSYNC or 'N Sync) was an American boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. Their self-titled debut album was successfully released to European ...

singer

Chris Kirkpatrick Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick (born October 17, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, music producer, and occasional actor, who is best known for his work as the founding member of the pop group NSYNC, in which he sang countertenor. He ...

in 2013, and his youngest daughter, Camryn, has excelled both athletically and professionally. Camryn is currently a leading executive in the professional staffing and recruitment industry. Tom Skladany is a past President of the NFL Alumni Association of Ohio (1989–2013).

References

1955 births Living people American football punters Detroit Lions players Ohio State Buckeyes football players Philadelphia Eagles players National Conference Pro Bowl players People from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania {{amfoot-punter-stub