Tony Butkovich

Tony Butkovich
No. 25
Butkovich carrying ball behind blocking from Buscemi (50) and Kasap (64) in 1943
Position:	Fullback
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1921-04-04)April 4, 1921
Place of birth:	St. David, Illinois
Date of death:	April 18, 1945(1945-04-18) (aged 24)
Place of death:	Okinawa, Okinawa
Career information
High school:	Lewistown (IL)
College:	Purdue
NFL Draft:	1944 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11
Career history
Cleveland Rams (1944)*
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
First-team All-American (1943)

Anthony J. "Tony" Butkovich (April 4, 1921 – April 18, 1945) was an American football fullback from the University of Illinois and spent his last year at Purdue. He was drafted by the Cleveland Rams in the first round of the 1944 NFL Draft, but never played professional football. Instead, he enlisted in the US Marines and fought in World War II.

Purdue career

He led the nation in rushing in 1943; 833 yds, 142 carries (5.9 avg), scoring 16 touchdowns (still a Boilermakes single season record) and led the Boilermakers to a record of 9–0 and a share of the Big Ten Title. The Boilermakers finished the season as the No. 4 team in the nation. In conference play alone, he led the conference in rushing (629 yrds over 95 carries) and scoring (13 touchdowns, 78 points).

He was selected All-American by the Associated Press (AP), International News Service, The Sporting News, United Press International (UPI) and Stars and Stripes; he was also First Team, All-Conference.

Statistics

Source:^[1]^[2]

Season	Rushing
NCAA Collegiate Career statistics
Illinois Fighting Illini
Season	Att	Yards	Avg	Yds/G	TD
1941	--	--	--	--	--
1942	60	174	2.9	34.8	--
Purdue Boilermakers
1943	142	833	5.9	92.6	16
NCAA Career Totals	202	1,007	4.9	71.9	16

Peraonsl life

He was a native of St. David, Illinois and graduated from Lewistown High School in Lewistown, Illinois.

He was killed in action at Okinawa.^[3]

References

↑ "Tony Butkovich". www.sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
↑ "1942 Final Big Ten Football Statistics" (PDF). www.umich.edu. University of Michigan. December 2, 1942. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
↑ "Remembering the fallen heroes". www.sports.espn.go.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. November 11, 2004. Retrieved September 19, 2010.

External links

Cleveland Rams 1944 NFL Draft selections

Tony Butkovich Gil Bouley Bob Waterfield Al Akins George Cheverko Stan Stasica Fred Boensch Bob Shaw Joe Andreico Pat Filley Bob Erickson Mel Maceau Frank Hubbell John Augirre Aubrey Clayton Ziggy Zamlynski Bob McBride Joe Yackanich John Creevey David Paul Jones Jim Pharr Joe Warlick Bert Gianelli Charley Kuhn Jim Smith Ray Donelli John Hughes Dick McPhee Jim McLeod Stan Kudlacz

Draft years 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

1944 NFL draft first-round selections

Angelo Bertelli Pat Harder Creighton Miller Otto Graham Steve Van Buren Billy Hillenbrand Merv Pregulman Mike Micka Ray Evans Johnny Podesto Tony Butkovich

Cleveland / St. Louis / Los Angeles Rams first-round draft picks

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