Walter Jacob Cudzik (February 21, 1932 – December 11, 2005) 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 ...
center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
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 ...
(NFL) for the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
. He also played in the
American Football League
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
(AFL) for the
Boston Patriots
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...
and the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
.
College
Cudzik 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 ...
at
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
.
NFL
Cudzik was
drafted in the eighteenth round of the
1954 NFL Draft
The 1954 National Football League Draft was held on January 28, 1954, at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia.
This was the eighth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery. With the previous seven winners i ...
by the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
, where he played up to 1959.
AFL
Cudzik was taken by the
Boston Patriots
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...
in their inaugural season of 1960, where he played up to 1963. In his final year (1964), Cudzik became a member of the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
as their starting center, replacing
Al Bemiller
Albert Delane Bemiller (April 18, 1938 – November 30, 2022) was an American professional American football, football player who was an offensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League (AFL). He played college football at ...
, who was moved to right
offensive guard
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
to accommodate him. That year, the Bills scored 400 points (28.6 points/game), 1st among 8 teams in the AFL, and won the AFL championship under
head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
Lou Saban
Louis Henry Saban (October 13, 1921 – March 29, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He played for Indiana University in college and as a professional for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference between 1946 a ...
. In 1965, Cudzick was replaced by
Dave Behrman
David Wesley Behrman (November 9, 1941 – December 9, 2014) was an American football offensive lineman who played in the American Football League for the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos. He was the fourth overall pick in the 1963 AFL Draft by ...
.
References
1932 births
2005 deaths
American football centers
Boston Patriots players
Buffalo Bills players
Players of American football from Chicago
Purdue Boilermakers football players
Washington Redskins players
American Football League players
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