Johnny Lujack

John Christopher Lujack Jr.<ref name="NYT">Template:Cite news</ref> (Template:IPAc-en;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> January 4, 1925 – July 25, 2023) was an American football player who was a quarterback and safety. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1947. He was also a unanimous All-American in both 1946 and 1947, leading the team to national championships both years. He later played professionally for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1948 to 1951, receiving first-team All-Pro honors in 1950.

Early life and college

Lujack was born to Alice and John Luczak,<ref name=SEofAL-2002-79>Template:Citation</ref> in 1925 in Connellsville, Pennsylvania,<ref name=CBY-1948-404>Template:Citation</ref> the youngest of four sons and fifth child in a family of six children.<ref name=CBY-1948-404/> The family is of Polish descent and included older siblings Valentine ("Val"), Stanislaus ("Stan"), Victoria, Aloysius ("Allie", who went on to play professional basketball), and younger sister Dolores.<ref name=SEofAL-2002-79/><ref>Luczak. – Connellsville, Fayette, Pennsylvania. – 1930 United States Census. – United States Census Bureau.</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref name=CBY-1948-404/><ref name=TBofS-1971-22>Template:Citation</ref> His father worked for the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad for thirty years as a boilermaker.<ref name=TBofS-1971-22/>

Lujack attended Connellsville High School and played for the school's football team from 1939 to 1941. He was also the senior class president and valedictorian.<ref name=KroegerJ-2005-09-20>Template:Citation</ref> In high school, he lettered in four sports; baseball, football, basketball, and track.<ref name=SEofAL-2002-79/><ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Lujack's 1941 high school team, named the Cokers for workers in the coal milling industry who feed the ovens, went 8–0–1, but did not get to play for the WPIAL league championship because their last game, with Brownsville, ended in a 13–13 tie.<ref name=WhiteM-1994-09-14>Template:Citation</ref>

People in Connellsville had wanted Lujack to go to the United States Military Academy (Army) at West Point, going so far as to ask their local congressman for an appointment, but Lujack, a fan of Notre Dame football from listening to their radio broadcasts, had his heart set on playing in South Bend.<ref name=PenningtonB-2004>Template:Citation</ref><ref name=DvorchakR-2009-07-14>Template:Citation</ref> He was the first Connellsville High School student to receive an appointment to Army.<ref name=SEofAL-2002-79/>

Lujack attended the University of Notre Dame, where he was given a scholarship by Frank Leahy, from 1942 to 1943 and then 1946 to 1947. His career was interrupted for two years by World War II after his sophomore season, during which he served as an officer in the United States Navy. His time in the Navy was spent hunting German submarines in the English Channel as an ensign.<ref name=PenningtonB-2004/><ref name=DvorchakR-2009-07-14/>

When Lujack returned from the Atlantic (ETO) duty, he appeared on the cover of the September 29, 1947, issue of LIFE.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> He led the 1947 Fighting Irish to a 9–0 record for his senior year, during which he completed 61 passes on 109 attempts for 777 yards and rushed for 139 yards on 12 carries, and won the Heisman Trophy.<ref name=WhiteM-1994-09-14/> As he had in high school, Lujack once again received varsity letters (called "monograms") in four sports (again baseball, football, basketball, and track) while at Notre Dame, becoming the third person to do so.<ref name=PenningtonB-2004/> As a track and field athlete, he competed in the high jump and javelin throw, at times dashing over to the track to compete between innings of baseball games that he was playing in.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was a two-time unanimous All-American (1946 and 1947) and led Notre Dame to three national championships (1943, 1946, and 1947).<ref name=TIME-1948-07-05>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref> In addition to winning the Heisman, Lujack was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year.<ref name=DvorchakR-2009-07-14/>

Professional career

Lujack was paid USD$17,000 for his 1948 rookie season with the Bears and $20,000 for his fourth and final season.<ref name=WhiteM-1994-09-14/> In his rookie season he played defensive back and kicker, during which he had eight interceptions for 131 yards and kicked 44 out of 46 extra points.<ref name=WhiteM-1994-09-14/><ref>Template:Citation</ref>

In the summer of 1949, Lujack starred in a radio program on ABC, The Adventures of Johnny Lujack, which was a summertime replacement for the Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy show. It was a 30-minute program and broadcast on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The show was broadcast from the studios of WGN in Chicago over the Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS) and ran for 13 weeks.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

File:John Lujack 1948 Bowman.jpg

Lujack on a 1948 Bowman football card

In the final game of the 1949 season, the 9–3 Bears defeated their hometown rivals, the Chicago Cardinals (6–5–1), by a score of 52–21 on December 11. In that game, Lujack threw six touchdown passes and set an NFL record with 468 passing yards.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref> The record was broken later by Norm Van Brocklin. He was the last Bears quarterback to throw at least five touchdown passes in a game until Mitchell Trubisky threw six against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2018.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Sid Luckman and George Blanda played behind Lujack in the rotation at quarterback for the 1949 and 1950 seasons.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>

During the 1950 season, Lujack set an NFL record with 11 rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. This record was tied by Tobin Rote with the Green Bay Packers in 1956, and broken by the New England Patriots' Steve Grogan in 1976.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref> Lujack, named to the 1950 All-Pro First-team, also set a Bears record for 109 total points in a season with 11 touchdowns, three (out of five) field-goals, and 34 (out of 35) extra points.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> That record was surpassed by Gale Sayers in 1965 with 132 total points.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Post-playing career

After four years with the Bears, Lujack returned to Notre Dame as an assistant coach for 1952 and 1953 to repay Frank Leahy as a debt of gratitude for having given him a scholarship to Notre Dame.<ref name=KroegerJ-2005-09-20/><ref name=WhiteM-1994-09-14/> Leahy wanted Lujack to succeed him as the head coach of the Fighting Irish, but Terry Brennan was chosen instead by Reverend Theodore Hesburgh, the university president.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

In 1954, he then went into the car dealership business with his father-in-law, at Lujack Schierbrock Chevrolet Company of Davenport, Iowa.<ref name=KroegerJ-2005-09-20/><ref>Motor volume 116, publisher Hearst Corp., 1961, page 44</ref> He purchased his father-in-law's dealership interest in 1988.<ref>Pennington. – p.96.</ref> Sometime in late 2006, the dealership was sold by his former son-in-law to Smart Automotive.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Lujack served as a television color commentator for NFL games on NFL on CBS for several years, teaming with Ray Scott to call Green Bay Packers games in 1957 and with Chris Schenkel to call New York Giants games from 1958 to 1961.<ref name="Markoe-p74">Markoe. – p.74.</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref name=DavisJ-2007-p133> Template:Citation</ref> However, in 1962 when Ford signed on as a major sponsor and learned that Lujack was a Chevrolet dealer, he was replaced by Pat Summerall.<ref name=DavisJ-2007-p133/><ref>Template:Citation</ref> He also worked with Jim McKay on CBS doing college football and on ABC college football telecasts in the late 1960s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On June 8, 1978, Lujack was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2005, Lujack donated $50,000 to Connellsville High School toward a new field house for the football stadium.<ref name=KroegerJ-2005-09-20/> It was later named Johnny Lujack Field House.<ref name=KroegerJ-2005-09-20/> The Johnny Lujack Training Facility was formally dedicated in 2009 and he was also inducted into the inaugural class of the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame.<ref name=DvorchakR-2009-07-14/>

Personal life

His wife, the former Patricia Ann "Pat" Schierbrock (February 22, 1927 — August 2, 2022), was the daughter of Josephine (née Wilson) and Frank H. Schierbrock.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Lujack and Schierbrock were married in Davenport, Iowa at the Sacred Heart Cathedral on June 26, 1948.<ref name="TIME-1948-07-05" /><ref>Template:Citation</ref> They had three children:<ref name="Markoe-p74" /> Mary, Jeff, and Carol (1954–2002).<ref>quad cities times May 30, 2002</ref>

Lujack was distantly related to NFL player Ben Skowronek and Olympic gymnast Courtney Kupets. NFL quarterback Trent Green married into the family.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Lujack died at a hospice in Naples, Florida, on July 25, 2023, at age 98.<ref name=NYT/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Career statistics

File:Johnny Lujack passing̠ 1947.jpg

Lujack, circa 1947

College statistics

Season	Team	Cmp	Att	Pct	Passing Yds	Passing TD	Int	Rtg	Rushing Yds	Rushing Avg
1943	Notre Dame	34	71	47.9	525	4	8	106.1	191	4.2
1946	Notre Dame	49	100	49.0	778	6	8	114.9	108	4.7
1947	Notre Dame	61	109	56.0	777	9	8	128.4	139	11.6

Professional statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	Record	Att	Cmp	Yds	TD	Int	Lng
1948	CHI	9	3	—	66	36	611	6	3	64
1949	CHI	12	7	—	312	162	2,658	23	22	81
1950	CHI	12	12	9–3	254	121	1,731	4	21	70
1951	CHI	12	6	4–2	176	85	1,295	8	8	78
Career<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref> || 45 || 28 || 13–5 || 808 || 404 || 6,295 || 41 || 54 || 81

External links

• Template:College Football HoF
• Template:Heisman
• Template:Footballstats