View source for Bill Swiacki

{{Short description|American football player and coach (1922–1976)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name         = Bill Swiacki
| image        = BillSwiacki1951Bowman.jpg
| number       = 81, 88
| position     = [[End (gridiron football)|End]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1922|10|2|mf=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Southbridge, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1976|7|7|1922|10|2}}
| death_place  = [[Sturbridge, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| height_ft    = 6
| height_in    = 2
| weight_lb    = 195
| college      = [[Holy Cross Crusaders football|Holy Cross]] <br> [[Columbia Lions football|Columbia]]
| draftyear    = 1946
| draftround   = 16
| draftpick    = 142
| pastteams    =
* [[New York Giants]] ({{NFL Year|1948|1950}})
* [[Detroit Lions]] ({{NFL Year|1951|1952}})
| pastcoaching =
* New York Giants ({{NFL Year|1954}}) <br> Ends
* [[Toronto Argonauts]] (1955-1956)
* [[History of the Los Angeles Rams|Los Angeles Rams]] ({{NFL Year|1958}}) <br> Ends
| highlights   =
* [[List of NFL champions (1920–69)|NFL champion]] ([[1952 NFL Championship Game|1952]])
* Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1947 College Football All-America Team|1947]])
* 2× First-team All-Eastern ([[1946 All-Eastern football team|1946]], [[1947 All-Eastern football team|1947]])
| statlabel1   = [[Reception (gridiron football)|Reception]]s
| statvalue1   = 139
| statlabel2   = Receiving yards
| statvalue2   = 1,883
| statlabel3   = [[Touchdown]]s
| statvalue3   = 18
| pfr          = SwiaBi20
| CollegeHOF   = 1619
}}

'''William Adam Swiacki''' (October 2, 1922 – July 7, 1976) was an [[American football]] player and coach.  He played [[college football]] as an end for [[Columbia University]] in 1946 and 1947 and was a consensus first-team All-American in 1947. He played professional football in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) for the [[New York Giants]] from 1948 to 1950 and for the [[Detroit Lions]] in 1951 and 1952.  He was a member of the Lions' [[1952 Detroit Lions season|1952 team]] that won the NFL championship.

==Early life==
Swiacki was born in [[Southbridge, Massachusetts]], in 1922.<ref name=PFR/> He was of Polish descent<ref>{{cite news|title=William Swiacki (Born)|newspaper=Polish American News|date=October 2012|page=3|url=http://www.polishamericancenter.org/PANews/October12.pdf}}</ref>

==College football and military service==
Swiacki began his college education at the [[College of the Holy Cross]] in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]].<ref name=Col/> He played at the end position for the [[Holy Cross Crusaders football]] team in 1942.<ref>{{cite news|title=Holy Cross, Colgate Tie|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|date=November 1, 1942|page=24|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4629336/holy_cross_colgate_tie/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>  He then served as a second lieutenant and navigator on a [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17 Flying Fortress]] in the [[United States Army Air Forces]] during [[World War II]].<ref name=Col/> After the war, he attended [[Columbia University]] and played college football at the [[End (American football)|end]] position for the [[Columbia Lions football|Columbia Lions]] in 1946 and 1947. On October 26, 1947, Swiacki gained national fame when his nine pass receptions led Columbia to a 21-20 victory over [[1947 Army Cadets football team|Army]], breaking the Cadets' 32-game winning streak.<ref>{{cite news|title=Columbia Star Named Week's Best Lineman|newspaper=Pottstown (PA) Mercury|date=October 30, 1947|page=22|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4626351/columbia_star_named_weeks_best_lineman/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=How Swiacki ended Army's unbeaten streak|author=Red Smith|newspaper=The Times Herald Record|date=July 11, 1976|page=119|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4626455/how_swiacki_ended_armys_unbeaten_streak/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bill Swiacki profile|publisher=National Football Foundation|work=College Football Hall of Fame|accessdate=March 14, 2016|url={{College Football HoF/url|id=1619}}}}</ref> At the end of the 1947 season, Swiacki was a consensus All-American,<ref name=CAA>{{cite web|title=2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections|publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)|year=2014|accessdate=February 10, 2015|page=6|url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2014/Awards.pdf|archive-date=December 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222163944/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2014/Awards.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> receiving first-team honors from, among others, the [[American Football Coaches Association]],<ref>{{cite news|author=Al Warren|title=Patrolling the Sport Highway with Al Warren|work=The Ogden Standard-Examiner|location=Ogden, Utah|date=December 17, 1947}}</ref> the [[Associated Press]],<ref name=AP>{{cite news|title=Midwest Places Three Backs On AP All-American Squad: Lujack, Evans and Chappuis On First Team|work=Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune|date=December 3, 1947}}</ref> the [[United Press]],<ref name=UP>{{cite news|title=Offensive Brilliance Pays Off On UP All-American: Midwestern Zone Leads With Four Players on Team|work=Journal|location=Western Nevada|date=November 27, 1947}}</ref> ''[[Collier's Weekly]]'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Collier's Grid Team Announced|work=The Times Recorder|location=Zanesville, OH|date=December 5, 1947}}</ref> the [[International News Service]],<ref name=INS>{{cite news|author=Lawton Carver|title=Johnny Lujack Unanimous INS All-American Grid Selection|work=The Daily Courier|location=Connellsville, PA|date=December 4, 1947}}</ref> and the [[Newspaper Enterprise Association]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Harry Grayson|author-link=Harry Grayson|title=Lujack Is Only Unanimous Choice For NEA's 1947 All-America|work=Middlesboro, Ky., Daily News|date=November 1947}}</ref>

==Professional football==
He later played professional football in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) as an [[End (gridiron football)|end]] for the [[New York Giants]] from 1948 to 1950 and for the [[Detroit Lions]] from 1951 to 1952.<ref name=PFR>{{cite web|title=Bill Swiacki|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=Pro-Football-Reference.com|accessdate=March 13, 2016|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SwiaBi20.htm}}</ref> He was a member of the [[1952 Detroit Lions season|1952 Detroit Lions team]] that won the NFL championship.   In September 1953, Swiacki announced that he was retiring from football to devote his time to business in his hometown of Southbridge, Massachusetts.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lions' Swiacki Retires To Enter Business|newspaper=The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois)|date=September 3, 1953|page=7|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4625617/lions_swiacki_retires_to_enter_business/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> In five years in the NFL, Swiacki appeared in 59 games and caught 139 passes for 1,883 yards for 18 touchdowns.<ref name=PFR/>

==NFL career statistics==
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! colspan="2"| Legend
|-
| style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|
| Won the [[History of the NFL championship|NFL championship]]
|-
| '''Bold'''
| Career high
|}

=== Regular season ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Team
!colspan="2"| Games
!colspan="5"| Receiving
|-
! GP !! GS !! Rec !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD
|-
! [[1948 NFL season|1948]] !! [[1948 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 12 || 1 || 39 || 550 || '''14.1''' || '''65''' || '''10'''
|-
! [[1949 NFL season|1949]] !! [[1949 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 12 || 9 || '''47''' || '''652''' || 13.9 || 42 || 4
|-
! [[1950 NFL season|1950]] !! [[1950 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 12 || 8 || 20 || 280 || 14.0 || 38 || 3
|-
! [[1951 NFL season|1951]] !! [[1951 Detroit Lions season|DET]]
| 12 || 5 || 16 || 188 || 11.8 || 24 || 0
|-
! [[1952 NFL season|1952]] !! style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| [[1952 Detroit Lions season|DET]]
| 11 || 6 || 17 || 213 || 12.5 || 26 || 1
|-
! colspan="2"| !! 59 !! 29 !! 139 !! 1,883 !! 13.5 !! 65 !! 18
|}

=== Playoffs ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Team
!colspan="2"| Games
!colspan="5"| Receiving
|-
! GP !! GS !! Rec !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD
|-
! [[1950 NFL season|1950]] !! [[1950 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0
|-
! [[1952 NFL season|1952]] !! style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"| [[1952 Detroit Lions season|DET]]
| 2 || 0 || '''1''' || '''14''' || '''14.0''' || '''14''' || 0
|-
! colspan="2"| !! 3 !! 0 !! 1 !! 14 !! 14.0 !! 14 !! 0
|}

==Coaching career==
In May 1954, Swiacki was hired as the end coach for the [[New York Giants]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Swiacki Signs as Coach With N.Y. Grid Giants|newspaper=Lebanon (PA) Daily News|date=May 1, 1954|page=16|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4625575/swiacki_signs_as_coach_with_ny_grid/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> In May 1955, he was hired as the head coach for the [[Toronto Argonauts]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Swiacki to Coach Toronto Argonauts|newspaper=Abilene (TX) Reporter-News|date=May 12, 1955|page=7B|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4625480/swiacki_to_coach_toronto_argonauts/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> After two seasons with the Argonauts, Swiacki quit the job in November 1956.<ref>{{cite news|title=Swiacki Quits|newspaper=The Lincoln (NE) Star|date=November 6, 1956|page=14|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4625521/swiacki_quits/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

==Family and later years==
After retiring from football, Swiacki returned to Massachusetts and went into the real estate business.<ref name=DFPObit/><ref name=Col/>  He and his wife, Charlotte Lester Swiacki (1926-1999), had a son, Bill, Jr., and a daughter, Leslie.<ref name=DFPObit/>  Bill, Jr., was a standout three-sport athlete at [[Amherst College]] who was drafted by both the NFL's New York Giants and [[Major League Baseball]]'s [[Los Angeles Dodgers]].<ref name=Col>{{cite web|title=Bill Swiacki|date=5 August 2006 |publisher=Columbia University Athletics|accessdate=March 14, 2016|url=http://www.gocolumbialions.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=9600&ATCLID=530128}}</ref>

Swiacki was named to the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] in April 1976.<ref>{{cite news|title=Parker, Swiacki in Hall of Fame|newspaper=The Ottawa Journal|date=April 22, 1976|page=35|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4626486/parker_swiacki_in_hall_of_fame/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>  Less than three months later, in July 1976, Swiacki died at his home in [[Sturbridge, Massachusetts]], at age 53.<ref name=DFPObit>{{cite news|title=Ex-Lion Swiacki Dies at 53|author=Jim Benagh|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=July 8, 1976|page=13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4625676/exlion_swiacki_dies_at_53/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> He was killed when his rifle accidentally discharged while Swiacki was cleaning it in the basement of his home.<ref name=Col/>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* {{Find a Grave|39851339}}

{{1947 NCAA Division I FBS College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1952 Detroit Lions}}
{{Toronto Argonauts coach navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swiacki, Bill}}
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:American football ends]]
[[Category:Holy Cross Crusaders football players]]
[[Category:Columbia Lions football players]]
[[Category:Detroit Lions players]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Rams coaches]]
[[Category:New York Giants players]]
[[Category:Toronto Argonauts coaches]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:People from Southbridge, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Worcester County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Massachusetts]]