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Walter George Patulski (born February 3, 1950) 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 ...
defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...
at the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
and 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 ...
.


High school

Patulski was a star athlete at Christian Brothers Academy in
Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
, where he was a three-year letterman in football, basketball, and track and field. In his senior season in 1967, the 6-foot-5 fullback scored 140 points and led the Brothers to a 7–1 record. He was All-City in football and basketball. A High School All-American, he received over 60 scholarship offers to play football. In 1991, Patulski was voted to the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame for his activities as a high school athlete.


College career

At the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
, Patulski was converted into a defensive end. He was an
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 in 1971, and he won the 1971
Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombar ...
, which is given to
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 ...
's best lineman. A
Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...
captain, he finished ninth in that year's
Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
balloting. Selected the Nation's Lineman of the Year by
UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...
and Gridiron Magazine in 1971. Patulski was named to ''Football News'' sophomore All-America squad in 1969 and was an honorable mention All-American in 1970. Patulski started every game in his collegiate career, and totaled 186 tackles, 40 for losses; broke up 10 passes; recovered five fumbles and returned one blocked punt 12 yards. In his final football season at Notre Dame, 1971, he was the team defensive MVP. Patulski made 74 tackles, 22 more than his total for the 1970 season. Seventeen of those stops resulted losses for the opposing team. Patulski also broke up six passes, recovered one fumble. The 1969-1971 Irish rushing defenses and total defenses were ranked in the nation's top six all three years and its scoring defense was in the top ten in 1970 and 1971 and compiled a record of 25–4–1 over those three seasons while Patulski was a starter. Patulski was awarded the game ball for his performance in the Irish initial 1971 contest against Northwestern and was acclaimed as national lineman of the week following the North Carolina game. His play versus Michigan State prompted the head coach Duffy Dougherty to hail him as Notre Dame's "finest defender". Patulski was later named to Notre Dame's All-Century team. He played in the 1971
Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...
and the
Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first st ...
. In the Hula Bowl he won the Defensive Lineman of the Game award. In the summer of 1972, Patulski played in the College All-Star game, in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. Patulski was lauded by one team as "(T)he best we've seen for many years." All but unstoppable on the pass rush, he dazzled the experts with his "amazing agility and lateral mobility."


Professional career

Patulski was drafted by 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. ...
with the first overall pick of the 1972
NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
. He was the last Notre Dame player to be drafted #1 overall. His size and speed were among the reasons he was highly touted: At 6'6" and 250 pounds, he could run the 40 in 4.9 seconds. As a rookie, Patulski led the Bills (coached by
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 ...
) with five sacks. In 1973, the Bills improved to a 9–5 record after going 4–9–1 in his rookie season of 1972, he recorded seven sacks, which was second on the team and was voted AP NFL Defensive Player of the Week (November 28, 1973), after Week 11. In 1974, the Bills recorded another 9-5 record and made the playoffs for the first time in eight years as he recorded 5.5 sacks. The Bills were 8-6 during his third season, but did not advance to the AFC playoffs. He recorded four sacks, a career low, however, two came in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals offensive line, who gave up only eight sacks in 1975. He lined up against St. Louis all-pro and
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
offensive tackle
Dan Dierdorf Daniel Lee Dierdorf (born June 29, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former football offensive tackle. A native of Canton, Ohio, Dierdorf played college football for the University of Michigan from 1968 to 1970 and was selected as a consen ...
. Patulski played four years (1972–1975) with the Bills, and then he was traded to the Cardinals for a second-round draft pick (which they would use to draft Joe Devlin), and played one year with the
St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...
(1977). He then suffered career-ending back surgery due to an injury he suffered while with the Chicago Bears. The Bills considered Patulski expendable when they acquired Sherman White from the
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...
, who was selected second overall in the 1972 draft out of
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Patulski's career was considered unsuccessful. Saban, grousing at his perceived lack of meanness (as per the perception of what was thought of for a defensive end) was quoted in later years as saying that "In tough situations, he would take the easy way out. To be aggressive, it just wasn't him." In fact, ESPN ranked him as the 27th biggest draft bust of all-time on April 18, 2008.


Personal

Patulski is a recipient of the Key to Syracuse (New York) for his distinguished community service. He also served as a sales manager of one of Syracuse's banks. He served for six years as Commissioner of the Syracuse Board of Education, and has also been a board member of the
Boys and Girls Clubs of America Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, ...
. He has also recently been guest speaker at the National Football Foundation. He was appointed and later elected as Commissioner of Education for the Syracuse School District in 1980. He was honored on June 19, 2014 with an induction into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in Troy, Michigan. Patulski has two daughters, Wallis and Emily. Wallis is a graduate of
George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...
. Emily graduated from
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
where she majored in psychology. In September 2016, Bills coach
Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching position ...
used Patulski's name as an alias when he posed as a reporter for ''
The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...
'' at a press conference for
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
head coach
Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick (; born April 16, 1952) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Additionally, he exercises extensive authority over the Patri ...
. The practical joke led the ''News'' to commission a guest column from the real Patulski following the Bills' win over the Patriots on October 2. The ''News'' then profiled Patulski a month later, in which his relatively disappointing career was largely blamed on two factors: he was in an unusually weak draft class, and his quiet personality clashed with the style of Bills coach
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 ...
. Patulski never spoke to Saban again after his football career ended, despite the opportunities to do so.Graham, Tim (November 19, 2016)
After 40 years in the NFL darkness, Walt Patulski explains how it all went wrong
''The Buffalo News''. Retrieved November 19, 2016.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patulski, Walt Living people 1950 births All-American college football players American football defensive ends Buffalo Bills players National Football League first-overall draft picks Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Sportspeople from Toledo, Ohio St. Louis Cardinals (football) players People from Fulton, Oswego County, New York