The 28th player on our list likely would have come in a lot higher if not for a little thing like World War II.
Stan Stasica was the last and one of the greatest all-around athletes to come out of Rockford High School before it closed in 1940.
On the football field, in 1937, Stasica powered the Rabs to the school's first conference title since 1934 and a 5-2-1 mark overall with six touchdowns. He scored another eight in 1938 as Rockford finished second to East Aurora. In Stasica's two years, the Rabs were 11-4-1 and he was voted first team All-Big 7 both seasons.
By Stasica's senior season, former Rockford High School star Rex Enright (No. 43 on this list) had taken over as head football coach at South Carolina. Enright was always on the lookout for top talent from Rockford and he convinced Stan to head south. To give Stasica a little more seasoning before college ball, Enright had Stan enroll at Gordon Military College in Georgia for the 1939 season where Stasica would score 17 touchdowns. Stasica then spent the 1940 season on South Carolina's freshman team.
In 1941, Stasica took the Southern Conference by storm. He teamed up with former Harlem running back Ken Roskie to lead the Gamecocks to a 4-4-1 record. Stasica played a starring role throughout. He had 106 yards rushing and the game-winning 66-yard touchdown run against North Carolina. He had the game-winning touchdown run in a 13-6 win over The Citadel. He had the only score in a 7-6 loss to the University of Miami and a 41-yard TD run and 82-yard TD pass in a 19-12 loss to Penn State.
He is probably best remembered by South Carolina fans for throwing two TD passes in the Gamecocks' 18-14 win over Clemson, its biggest rival. One of his TD passes was to Roskie and the other South Carolina was a TD pass by Roskie - oh for the days of the entertaining Single Wing offense.
Stasica was placed on the All-Southern Conference Team by the International News Service and named honorable mention All-America by the Associated Press. He was poised to have one of the best college careers ever by any Northern Illinois Conference player.
In December 1941, though, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and Stasica joined the U.S. Army. He spent the 1942 season playing for the Camp Grant Warriors before becoming a paratrooper for the 101st Airborne where he was a genuine war hero.
The 101st Airborne was known as the Screaming Eagles and took part in the D-Day invasion of Normany, the aerial invasion of Holland and fought at Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge. Stasica earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
Stasica had made such an impression in 1941 that the Cleveland Rams drafted Stasica in the 8th round of the 1943 NFL draft even though he was preparing for the D-Day invasion.
Stasica was finally discharged from military service in late September of 1945. The college football season was already underway so instead of returning to South Carolina, Stasica transferred to the University of Illinois.
It was a rough return. He practiced with the Illini on October 4 and was in the lineup against Indiana two days later. This wasn't a glorious time for Illinois football. The Illini would go 2-6-1 for the year and 1-5-1 with Stasica on the team. He started the last six games but didn't score a single touchdown. Stasica planned on returning in 1946, but he dropped out in the summer despite having gone through spring practice.
In the fall, the Miami Seahawks of the fledgling All-American Football Conference, which was trying to challenge the NFL and was founded in 1941 by Chicago Tribune Editor (and former Rockford Morning Star writer) Arch Ward. Stasica would appear in only one game.
He was on the move again in 1947, playing for the Regina Roughriders in the Canadian Football League.
That was it for pro football for Stasica. Although no story was printed on why he gave it up, by the fall of 1948, Stasica was 29 years old. He spent the next several years in Rockford where he quickly became one of the area's better amateur golfers. He was the winner of the first Winnebago County Amateur in 1954.
Eventually, though, he settled in Denver, Colorado, where he lived until his death in 2012.
| No. 28 - Stan Stasica, Rockford | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Level | School | Accomplishments | Points |
| 1937 | High School | Rockford | First Team All-Conference | 2 |
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| Conference Champion | 1 | |||
| 1938 | High School | Rockford | First Team All-Conference | 2 |
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| Honorable Mention All-State | 0.5 | |||
| 1940 | High School | South Carolina | Player on NCAA Division1 Freshman Team | 1.75 |
| 1941 | High School | South Carolina | Letter Winner on NCAA Division I Team | 3.5 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| All-Conference | 1 | |||
| Honorable Mention All-America | 0.5 | |||
| 1944 | NFL | Rams | Eighth Round Draft Pick | 3 |
| 1945 | College | Illinois | Letter Winner on Power 5 Team | 4 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| 1946 | AAFC | Miami Seahawks | Played in AAFC | 2 |
| 1947 | CFL | Regina | Played in CFL | 2 |
| All-Star | 1 | |||
| Total | 29.25 | |||
NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players
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