Alex Rado

Rado was born on July 19, 1911, in Dayton, Ohio, to Louis and Mary Rado.[1] Rado graduated from Roosevelt High School in Dayton, Ohio,[2] in 1929.[3] He played with the Lakeside Maroons, a semi-professional football team, during high school.[1] He played college football for New River State College from 1931 through 1933.[4][5] He was named captain for the 1933 team.[5] Rado was inducted into his college's hall of fame and the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference named him to their "All Time Star" 50th anniversary team in 1974.[6]

Rado joined the Kiefer Drugs, a semi-professional football team in Ohio, for the 1933 season.[7] He also played for the Dakota Streeters, a sandlot football team.[8] He signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National Football League on August 9, 1934.[9] He played in eight games for the Pirates in 1934, rushing for 210 yards.[10] His salary was $100 per game,[11] and he missed one month of the season due to a broken collarbone suffered during a tackle of Bronko Nagurski.[12][13][14] He was released before the start of the 1935 season on September 6, 1935.[15] He and Basilio Marchi filed workers' compensation claims in Pennsylvania against the Steelers, asserting that they should receive salaries despite their injuries during the 1934 season.[12] A judge ruled in their favor in January 1936.[12]

Rado played for the semi-pro Dayton Kesslers for the 1935 season.[16] He joined the Los Angeles Bulldogs in 1936,[17] and signed with the Dayton Rosies of the Midwest Football League in December 1936.[18] He stayed on with the Rosies through the 1937 and 1938 seasons.[19][20] The team became the Dayton Bombers in 1939, with Rado shifting to a role as a player-coach.[21] Rado was a player-coach for the Dakotas Athletic Club semi-professional football team in 1940.[22][23] His team went undefeated on the season.[24][25] Rado and the Dakotas joined the Ohio Professional Football League for the 1941 season.[26][27] He was a player-coach again in 1942 for the Dakotas.[28]

Rado founded the Dayton Rockets in 1946,[29][30] with his role again as a player-coach.[31] The team won the Dayton semi-pro city over the Dayton Bombers, 18–12, on December 1, 1946.[32] He announced his retirement from playing after 1946,[32] but returned as a player during the 1947 season.[33] The team joined the Inter-State Semipro Football League in 1947,[34][35] but left the league during the season.[36] They won the city championship over the Bombers again by a score of 47–0.[37]

The team became the John Stanko Barons for the 1948 season, with Rado playing quarterback.[38] They went 7–1–1 in 1948 before playing in the city championship again opposite the Bombers,[39] which they won for the third year in a row with a score of 30–6.[40] Renamed the Wiedemann Buds,[41] they played for the city championship against the Dayton Bombers again in 1949[42] and won their fourth title, 25–6.[43]

Rado played in a Dayton softball league in 1963.[3] He also officiated high school football games and played bowling.[44] He worked for Delco Products as a tool process engineer after moving back to Dayton in 1936.[1] Rado had two children with his wife Stella,[1] and remarried to Marge after his first wife's death.[45] He died on August 30, 1995.[46]

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