Andrew Geza Farkas (May 2, 1916 – April 10, 2001) 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 ...

fullback 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 ...

and the Detroit Lions.

Early life

Farkas was born in

Clay Center, Ohio Clay Center is a village in Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. The population was 262 at the 2020 census. History Clay Center derives its name from originally being the center of a larger Clay Township. When Ottawa County was founded in 1840 ...

of Hungarian origins, and attended St. John's High School in Toledo for two years before moving to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and graduating from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School.

College career

Farkas played college football at the

University of Detroit Mercy The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Roman Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catholic univers ...

Professional career

Farkas was drafted in the first round of the 1938 NFL Draft by the

, where he played from 1938 to

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

, and finished his career with the Detroit Lions in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

. He also led the Redskins in rushing and scoring in 1938-39 and 1942–43, as well as helped lead the Redskins to an NFL Championship in

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...

. He led the NFL in scoring and all-purpose yards in 1939 NFL season, 1939. One of the highlights of his seven-year tour was catching a 99–yard pass play, 99-yard touchdown pass from Frank Filchock on October 15, 1939. He was elected to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, the Ohio Sports Hall of Fame and founded the Gus Dorais Foundation at the University of Detroit in 1955. In 2002, Farkas was named one of the 70 greatest Redskins in team history. Farkas was pictured wearing eye black as far back as 1942 and is credited as the first player in the NFL to wear it.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Farkas, Andy American football fullbacks Detroit Lions players University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy alumni People from Ottawa County, Ohio Detroit Titans football players Washington Redskins players 1916 births 2001 deaths American people of Hungarian descent