Alexander Francis "Wojie" Wojciechowicz (; August 12, 1915 – July 13, 1992) 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 wi ...

player from 1935 to 1950. He was a two-way player who played at

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 eccentrici ...

on offense and at

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, ...

on defense. He has been inducted into both the

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

and Pro Football Halls of Fame, was a founder and the first president of the NFL Alumni Association, and was the third player to receive the Order of the Leather Helmet. Wojciechowicz played college football for the Fordham Rams from 1935 to 1937 and was a member of the line that became known as the

Seven Blocks of Granite The Seven Blocks of Granite were the Fordham University football team's offensive line under head coach "Sleepy" Jim Crowley and line coach Frank Leahy. The individuals identified among the Seven Blocks of Granite were Leo Paquin, Johnny Druze ...

. He was selected as the consensus first-team All-American center in both 1936 and 1937. Wojciechowicz was selected by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the 1938 NFL Draft and played for the Lions from 1938 to 1946. He was selected as a first-team All-NFL player in 1939 and 1944. In 1946, he was released by the Lions and then sold to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

, for whom he played from 1946 to 1950. He won two NFL championships with the Eagles, in 1948 and 1949.

Early years

Wojciechowicz was born in 1915 in

South River, New Jersey South River is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 16,008,South River High School. His father, Andrew Wojciechowicz (1890–1974), was a Polish immigrant and tailor.

College football

Wojciechowicz enrolled at Fordham University in 1935 and played college football as the center for the

Fordham Rams football The Fordham Rams football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Fordham University, located in the borough of The Bronx in New York City. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and ar ...

team from 1935 to 1937. He was a member of the Fordham line, alongside

Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest coach in football history, and he is recognized a ...

, that became known as the

. The undefeated 1937 Fordham team, with Wojciechowicz at center, compiled a 7–0–1 record, was ranked #3 in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

, and gave up only 16 points all season. He was selected as the consensus first-team All-American center in both 1936 and 1937. Fordham coach

Jim Crowley James Harold "Sleepy Jim" Crowley (September 10, 1902 – January 15, 1986) was an American football player and coach. He gained fame as one-fourth of the University of Notre Dame's legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield where he played halfback fr ...

called Wojciechowicz "one of the great defensive centers" and noted that he "seldom made a bad pass from center." He made a name for himself in the annual rivalry games with

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, resulting in three consecutive scoreless ties. The final tie was the only blemish on the record of the 1937 Pitt team that won the national championship in the

. Wojciechowicz later cited the Pitt games as his three biggest thrills in football, saying, "Pitt had the dream backfield, with all-America

Marshall Goldberg Marshall Goldberg (October 24, 1917 – April 3, 2006) was a National Football League (NFL) All-Pro American football player. He played college football as a halfback and fullback at the University of Pittsburgh. At Pittsburgh, Goldberg wa ...

, and we had the dream line. It was a stalemate for three years. Those three games proved what football is all about."

Professional football

Detroit Lions

Wojciechowicz was selected by the Detroit Lions in the first round, sixth overall pick, of the 1938 NFL Draft. He signed with the Lions in July 1938. For nine years, Wojciechowicz was a fixture in the Lions' lineup, a 60-minute player who played at center on offense and linebacker on defense. He was selected as a first-team All-NFL player in 1939 and 1944 and had seven interceptions in 1944, a Lions single-season record at the time. Between 1938 and 1946, he appeared in 86 games for the Lions, 61 of them as a starter. The

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, coa ...

, in its biography of Wojciechowicz, states: "On the field, . . . he was all business, one of the last of the 'iron men' of football, a center on offense and a sure-tackling linebacker with unusually good range, on defense." In October 1946, after the Lions lost their season opener, Detroit coach

Gus Dorais Charles Emile "Gus" Dorais (July 2, 1891 – January 3, 1954) was an American football player, coach, and athletic administrator. Dorais played college football at the University of Notre Dame, where he was an All-American in 1913 at quarterback ...

released four linemen, including Wojciechowicz. Wojciechowicz announced at the time that he would return to his business in New Jersey and added, "This day had to come, and I can't say I'm disappointed that it happened now."

Philadelphia Eagles

Two days after the Lions announced his release, the Eagles purchased the Lions' rights to Wojciechowicz for an undisclosed sum. He appeared in seven games for the Eagles, only one as a starter, during the 1946 season. In 1947, he became the Eagles' starting center, appearing in all 12 games for the club, 11 as a starter. The 1947 Eagles compiled an 8–4 record, finished in first place in the NFL East, but lost to the Cardinals in the

1947 NFL Championship Game The 1947 NFL Championship Game was the 15th annual National Football League (NFL) championship game, held December 28 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The attendance was 30,759, well The game featured the Western Division champion Chicago Cardina ...

. In 1948, Wojciechowicz lost the starting center job to Vic Lindskog, but appeared in 10 games, mostly on defense, for the 1948 Eagles team that shut out the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

in the 1948 NFL Championship Game. In 1949, he appeared in all 12 games, but only one as a starter, as Chuck Bednarik was the starting center for the Eagles team. That year, the Eagles won their second consecutive NFL championship, shutting out the

Rams In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)1949 NFL Championship Game. He was considered past his prime when he joined the Eagles, but head coach

Greasy Neale Alfred Earle "Greasy" Neale (November 5, 1891 – November 2, 1973) was an American football and baseball player and coach. Early life and playing career Neale was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Although writers eventually assumed that Nea ...

used him principally as a linebacker, and he responded with quality defensive play.Didinger, Ray
"Eagles' Wojciechowicz was club's 'toughest guy'"
'' Asbury Park Press'', July 15, 1992. Accessed May 10, 2017. "Alex Wojciechowicz , one of 12 Philadelphia Eagles in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died Monday at his home in Forked River, N.J." Teammate Jack Hinkle called Wojciechowicz the "toughest guy" on the Eagles' championship teams and added, "He looked like a big, shaggy dog. A sad-eyed St. Bernard. But he'd rip your head off." In his final NFL season, Wojciechowicz appeared in nine games, none as a starter, and saw only limited action. In December 1950, he announced that he was retiring as a player.

Family, honors and later years

Wojciechowicz was married to Katherine Mallen, and they had three sons and a daughter. For many years after retiring from the NFL, he lived in Wanamassa, New Jersey, and worked as a real estate appraiser and broker. Wojciechowicz was also one of the founders of the NFL Alumni Association, established to negotiate with the owners for the creation of a pension plan to benefit the game's early players, and was elected as its president in 1968. His son recalled: "He worked hard to establish the indigent players' fund and establish pensions." After retiring from football, Wojciechowicz received numerous honors including the following: * In 1955, he was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame. * In 1968, he was inducted into the

. At the time, Bill Daley wrote in ''The New York Times'': "Fewer than a dozen men had the durability and continuing excellence to survive the rigors of smashing play for a longer period of time." * In 1969, he was selected to the

National Football League 1940s All-Decade Team This is a list of all NFL players who had outstanding performances throughout the 1940s and have been compiled together into this fantasy group. The team was selected by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is t ...

. * In 1970, he was one of the five inaugural inductees into the Fordham University Athletic Hall of Fame. * In 1971, he was inducted into the New Jersey All Sports Hall of Fame. * In 1975, Wojciechowicz was inducted into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame. * In 1982, he became the third player, after

Bronko Nagurski Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski (November 3, 1908 – January 7, 1990) was a Canadian-born professional American football player in the National Football League (NFL), renowned for his strength and size. Nagurski was also a successful professional ...

and

Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees ...

, to receive the prestigious NFL Alumni Order of the Leather Helmet. * In 1987, he was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame. Wojciechowicz died in 1992 at his home in the Forked River section of

Lacey Township, New Jersey Lacey Township is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey and is considered part of the Jersey Shore and South Jersey regions. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 27,644, reflecting an increase of 2,298 (+9.1%) fro ...

, at age 76.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wojciechowicz, Alex 1915 births 1992 deaths All-American college football players American football centers American football linebackers College Football Hall of Fame inductees Detroit Lions players Fordham Rams football players Fordham University alumni People from South River, New Jersey Philadelphia Eagles players Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees American people of Polish descent Players of American football from New Jersey South River High School (New Jersey) alumni Sportspeople_from_Lacey_Township,_New_Jersey Sportspeople_from_Middlesex_County,_New_Jersey.html" ;"title="Sportspeople from Lacey Township, New Jersey">Sportspeople from Lacey Township, New Jersey Sportspeople from Middlesex County, New Jersey">Sportspeople from Lacey Township, New Jersey">Sportspeople from Lacey Township, New Jersey Sportspeople from Middlesex County, New Jersey