View source for Emil Sitko

{{Short description|American football player (1923–1973)}}
{{Distinguish|Emil Sitka}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{refimprove|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name        = Emil Sitko
| image       = Emil Sitko - 1950 Bowman.jpg
| caption     = Sitko on a 1950 Bowman football card
| number      = 82, 24
| position    = [[Halfback (American football)|Halfback]] <br> [[Fullback (gridiron football)|Fullback]]
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1923|9|7}}
| birth_place = [[Fort Wayne, Indiana]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1973|12|15|1923|9|7}}
| death_place = Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.
| height_ft   = 5
| height_in   = 8
| weight_lb   = 183
| high_school = Central (IN)
| college     = [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]]
| draftyear   = 1946
| draftround  = 1
| draftpick   = 10
| pastteams   = 
* [[San Francisco 49ers]] ({{NFL Year|1950}})
* [[Chicago Cardinals (NFL, 1920–59)|Chicago Cardinals]] ({{NFL Year|1951|1952}})
| highlights  = 
* 3× [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|National champion]] ([[1946 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1946]], [[1947 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1947]], [[1949 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1949]])
* 2× Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1948 College Football All-America Team|1948]], [[1949 College Football All-America Team|1949]])
* [[National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame]] (2020)
| statlabel1  = Rushing yards
| statvalue1  = 636
| statlabel2  = Rushing average
| statvalue2  = 3.9
| statlabel3  = [[Reception (gridiron football)|Reception]]s
| statvalue3  = 9
| statlabel4  = Receiving yards
| statvalue4  = 87
| statlabel5  = Total [[touchdown]]s
| statvalue5  = 3
| pfr         = SitkEm20
| CollegeHOF  = 1643
}}

'''Emil Martin "Red" Sitko''' (September 7, 1923 – December 15, 1973) was an [[American football]] player.

Born in [[Fort Wayne, Indiana]] on September 7, 1923. He was of Polish descent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19491107&id=el1gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4HENAAAAIBAJ&pg=3819,1870921|title=Star-News - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}</ref> He earned the nickname of "Red" due to his red hair. He attended Central High School in Fort Wayne. At only 5'8" and 180 pounds he was not considered a big man. "Emil wasn't very big as football players go -- even for those days", Irish coach [[Frank Leahy]] once said. "But he was the fastest starting back I ever coached."

Emil Sitko served in a military capacity during World War II and did not enter directly into college. While in the military, Sitko made a name for himself on the [[Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football|Great Lakes Navy football team]], where, in 1943, he scored a touchdown and had an interception against a previously undefeated [[1943 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|Notre Dame team]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Sailors Defeat Notre Dame, 19-14|newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=November 28, 1943|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17700962/sailors_defeat_notre_dame_1914/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>  Upon coming out of service in World War II, he enrolled at [[University of Notre Dame|Notre Dame]] as a 23-year-old freshman. He was a [[Starting lineup|starter]] on the football team three years at right half and one year at fullback from 1946 to 1949. In those four years the Notre Dame record was 36–0–2. Besides his nickname of "Red", he was known in football as "Six- Yard Sitko." He led his team in rushing all four years and his career average was 6.1 yards a try.  In 1949, he also led the team in kickoff returns, averaging 22 yards. He made the [[All-America]] teams of the ''[[Sporting News]]'' and the [[Football Writers Association of America]] in 1948 and was unanimous All-America in 1949. Emil also finished eighth in the 1949 [[Heisman Trophy]] voting behind teammate [[Leon Hart]]. Sitko still stands seventh on Notre Dame's career rushing charts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/archive/allambios/nd-m-footbl-sitko.html|title=Notre Dame Football :: UND.COM :: The Official Site of ND Athletics|website=und.cstv.com}}{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Sitko played three seasons in the NFL for the [[San Francisco 49ers]] and the [[Chicago Cardinals]] before retiring and returning to his hometown to work in the auto sales business. He died in 1973, at age 50, after a heart attack. He was inducted into the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] in 1984 and [[National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame]] in 2020.

==References==
[http://egen.fortwayne.com/ns/projects/komets/top50/sitko.php Red’s Run.  News-Sentinel. FortWayne.com]{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{College Football HoF|1643}}
* {{Footballstats |nfl=emil-sitko |espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |si= |pfr=S/SitkEm20 |rotoworld= }}
* {{Find a Grave|80564398}}

{{1946 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football navbox}}
{{1947 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football navbox}}
{{1949 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football navbox}}
{{1948 NCAA Division I FBS College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1949 NCAA Division I FBS College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1946 NFL Draft}}
{{Los Angeles Rams 1946 draft navbox}}
{{RamsFirstPick}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sitko, Emil}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:1973 deaths]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:American football fullbacks]]
[[Category:American football halfbacks]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:American people of Polish descent]]
[[Category:Chicago Cardinals players]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football players]]
[[Category:Norman Naval Air Station Zoomers football players]]
[[Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Fort Wayne, Indiana]]
[[Category:Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils football players]]
[[Category:San Francisco 49ers players]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]


{{Runningback-1920s-stub}}