Steve Junker

Junker was born in 1935 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended Elder High School in that city.[1]

Junker enrolled at Xavier University and played college football as a linebacker and end for the Xavier Musketeers football team from 1953 to 1956.[2] In 1956, he was inducted into Xavier's "Legion of Honor", the highest award Xavier bestowed on its athletes.[3][4] Also at the end of the 1956 season, Junker was named by the Associated Press as a second-team end on its small college All-America football team,[5] and a first-team player on the International News Service's All-Ohio team.[6] He was also selected to play in the 1956 East–West Shrine Game.[7] In the August 1957 Chicago College All-Star Game, Junker starred for the college all-stars.[8]

Junker was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fourth round (48th overall pick) of the 1957 NFL Draft.[1][9] As a rookie in 1957, he caught 22 passes for 305 yards and four touchdowns in the regular season.[1] He then blossomed in the playoffs. In the divisional playoff against the San Francisco 49ers, Junker caught eight passes for 92 yards, one of them for a touchdown.[10][11] In the 1957 NFL Championship Game, he was the Lions leading scorer with 12 points and caught five passes, including touchdown receptions covering 26 and 23 yards.[12][13][14]

Junker suffered a knee injury in an Xavier alumni football game in the spring of 1958. Junker later recalled that, despite four knee surgeries, "The knee just never quite came back."[2] As a result of the injury, he missed the entire 1958 NFL season.[15]

Junker returned to the Lions in 1959, but he continued to be hampered by his bad knee and had no catches.[16] During the Lions' pre-season camp in 1960, Junker impressed observers and led to his being "hailed as the 'comeback star' of 1960."[17] However, he managed only six catches for 55 yards during the 1960 regular season.[1]

In September 1961, the Lions traded Junker to the Washington Redskins in exchange for Johnny Olszewski.[18] He played for the Redskins in 1961 and 1962, totaling 20 catches for 279 yards.[1]

In 1963, after retiring from football, Junker began a long association with Wilson Realty Co. in the Cincinnati area.[19] He remained with the company through at least 1976.[2] He later formed his own company known as Steve Junker Realty.[20] He also worked for a time in the mid-1960s as a scout for the Atlanta Falcons and later for the Dallas Cowboys.[2][21]