Leon Gajecki

Leon J. Gajecki (December 10, 1917 – November 2, 2000) was an American football player.

Leon Gajecki
refer to caption
Leon Gajecki, 1940
Personal information
Born:December 10, 1917
Colver, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died:November 2, 2000 (aged 82)
Woodbury, New Jersey, U.S.
Career information
College:Penn State
Position:Center
Career highlights and awards
  • First-team All-American (1940)

Gajecki was born in 1917 in Colver, Pennsylvania, and attended Ebensburg High School.[1]

He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team from 1937 to 1940.[1][2] He was selected by both the Newspaper Enterprise Association and Liberty magazine as a first-team center on the 1940 All-America college football team.[3][4]

Gajecki was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 142nd pick in the 1940 NFL Draft.[5] He played for the Jersey City Giants of the American Football League from 1946 to 1948.[1]

After retiring from football, he settled in Pitman, New Jersey. He coached the football team at Glassboro State College in the mid-1960s. He also worked as a fuel technologist for more than 30 years for Exxon.[6] He was inducted into the Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame in 1971.[7] He died in 2000 at age 82 at the Greenbriar West Nursing Home in Woodbury, New Jersey.[6][8]

References
  1. "Leon Gajecki". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  2. Havey Boyle (November 23, 1940). "A Great Star". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. ESPN Books. 2005. p. 1181. ISBN 1401337031.
  4. Harry Grayson (November 22, 1940). "NEA All-America: Gajecki At Center; Penn State Star Draws Most Votes For Pivot Spot". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 39 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "1940 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  6. S. Joseph Hagenmayer (November 6, 2000). "Leon J. Gajecki Sr., 82, a football star for Penn State". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. B4 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Leon Gajecki". Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  8. "Former Nittany Lion Football All-American Leon Gajecki Dies". Penn State Athletics. November 6, 2000.
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