imported>Jevansen: Removing from Category:Players of American football from Essex County, Massachusetts using Cat-a-lot

2025-05-15T02:40:05Z

Removing from Category:Players of American football from Essex County, Massachusetts using Cat-a-lot

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{{Short description|American football player (1924–1985)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| image = Boley Dancewicz - 1948 Bowman.jpg
| caption = Dancewicz on a 1948 Bowman football card
| position = [[Quarterback]]
| number = 22
| birth_date = {{birth date|1924|10|3}}
| birth_place = [[Lynn, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1985|06|26|1924|10|3}}
| death_place = [[Boston, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 10
| weight_lbs = 187
| high_school = [[Lynn Classical High School|Lynn Classical]] {{nowrap|(Lynn, Massachusetts)}}
| college = [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]]
| draftyear = 1946
| draftround = 1
| draftpick = 1
| pastteams =
* [[Boston Yanks]] ({{NFL Year|1946|1948}})
* [[Bethlehem Bulldogs]] (1949)
| highlights =
* [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|National champion]] ([[1943 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1943]])
* Second-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1945 College Football All-America Team|1945]])
| statlabel1 = [[Touchdown|TD]]–[[Interception|INT]]
| statvalue1 = 12–29
| statlabel2 = [[Forward pass|Passing yards]]
| statvalue2 = 1,551
| statlabel3 = [[Passer rating]]
| statvalue3 = 40.1
| pfr = D/DancBo20
}}

'''Francis Joseph "Boley" Dancewicz''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|æ|n|s|ə|w|ɪ|t|s}} {{Respell|DAN|sə|wits}} October 3, 1924 – June 26, 1985) was an [[American football]] [[quarterback]] and coach. He played [[college football]] for [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]], was the first overall pick in the [[1946 NFL draft]], and played professional football in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) for the [[Boston Yanks]] from 1946 to 1948. After his playing career, he worked as a physical education teacher and football coach.

==Early years==
[[File:Boley Dancewicz (1941).jpg|thumb|left|155px|Dancewicz, 1941]]
Dancewicz was born in 1924 in [[Lynn, Massachusetts]], the son of Felix and Magdalena (Jakusiak) Dancewicz. He was the quarterback for the football team at Lynn Classical High School, leading his team to state championships in 1940 and 1941. The Lynn team also defeated a team from [[New Britain, Connecticut]], to win the 1941 New England championship.<ref name=BGobit/><ref name=DEIobit>{{cite news|title=Football great Dancewicz ies|newspaper=Daily Evening Item (Lynn, Massachusetts)|date=June 27, 1985|pages=1, 8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-item-dancewicz/164907684/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> He was selected by the Eastern Massachusetts Interscholastic Sportswriters Associaioon as the outstanding football player of both the 1940 and 1941 seasons. He was a triple-threat player who was described as "ace passer, wizard punter, canny playcaller, pass interceptor par excellence, capable ball toter."<ref>{{cite news|title=Dancewicz Tops All-Time Stars: "Boley" First Boy to Win Big Grid Trophy Twice|newspaper=The Boston Globe|author=Ernest Dalton|date=January 16, 1942|page=21|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-dancewicz/164909296/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

Asked in 1945 about his nickname "Boley", Dancewicz explained: "They've called me that since I started to school. Maybe it came out of my being of Polish descent. Anyhow, I like it."<ref name=spark>{{cite news|title=Dancewicz Sparks Irish|newspaper=The Fort Lauderdale Daily News|date=October 11, 1945|page=11|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-lauderdale-news-dancewicz/164909746/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

==Notre Dame==
Dancewicz played [[college football]] at Notre Dame from 1942 to 1945.<ref name=PFA/> As a sophomore, he was an understudy to [[Angelo Bertelli]] and [[Johnny Lujack]] of the [[1943 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team]] that won a national championship. As a junior and senior, he became one of the nation's leading passers, "an ideal leader and field general", "a spark plug, an elusive broken field runner nad an excellent punter."<ref name=spark/> He was captain of the [[1945 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|1945 Notre Dame team]] and was selected as a first-team All-American by the [[Central Press Association|Central Press]] and as a second-team All-American by several other selectors.<ref>{{cite news|title=Central Press 1945 All-American|newspaper=Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune|date=December 6, 1945|page=13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/columbia-daily-tribune-central-press-194/164910430/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

==Professional football==
Dancewicz was selected by the [[Boston Yanks]] with the first overall pick in the [[1946 NFL draft]].<ref name=PFR/> He signed a contract with the Yanks in January 1946.<ref>{{cite news|title= Yans Sign Dancewicz, Ex-Lynn, Irish Star|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=January 12, 1946|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-dancewicz/164910790/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

As a rookie in 1946, he saw limited action, appearing in eight games, one as a starter, completing 13 of 34 passes (38.2%) for 162 yards, one touchdown, and six interceptions.<ref name=PFR>{{cite news|title=Boley Dancewicz|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=Pro-Football-Reference.com|accessdate=February 6, 2025|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DancBo20.htm}}</ref>

In 1947, Dancewicz appeared in 12 games, completing 66 of 169 passes (39.1%) for 1,203 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions. He ranked ninth in the NFL in passing yards.<ref name=PFR/> He also rushed for 145 yards on 47 carries (3.1 yards per carry) and a touchdown.<ref name=PFA>{{cite web|title=Boley Dancewicz|publisher=Pro Football Archivs|accessdate=February 6, 2025|url=https://www.profootballarchives.com/players/d/danc00200.html}}</ref>

In 1948, Dancewicz appeared in only three games, none as a starter, completing 17 of 35 passes (48.6%) for 186 yards with zero touchdowns and five interceptions.<ref name=PFR/>

In 1949, he played for the [[Bethlehem Bulldogs]] of the American Football League.<ref name=PFA/><ref>{{cite news|title=Boley Dancewicz Signs With Bethlehem Bulldogs For Coming Season|newspaper=The Morning Call|date=August 13, 1949|page=11|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-call-boley-dancewicz/164911540/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> He also served as backfield coach at [[Lafayette College]] during the 1949 season.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dancewicz Takes High School Job|newspaper=Hartford Courant|date=March 1, 1950|page=17|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-dancewicz/164912804/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

==Family and later years==
Dancewicz was a lifelong resident of [[Lynn, Massachusetts]]. In 1950, he became head football coach at Salem High School. He also coached football at Lynn Classical High School, Haverhill High School, Boston University, and Lafayette College. He later worked as the supervisor of physical education for the Lynn public schools; he returned to teaching at the end of his career as a physical education teacher at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute. He also taught swimming at Camp Christopher in [[Danvers, Massachusetts]] for over 30 years.<ref name=BGobit>{{cite news|title=Francis Dancewicz, 60; instructor, schoolboy and college football star|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=June 28, 1985|page=62|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-francis-dancewicz/164907272/|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref name=DEIobit/>

Dancewicz married Audrey Helen Kerr. They had a son, Gary, and four daughters, Carol Pizzotti, Deborah Dancewicz, Marianne Spinney, and Rita Dancewicz.<ref name=BGobit/>

He died in June 1985 at age 60 at the University Hospital in Boston. He died from a serious spinaly injury sustained when he fell from a ladder outside his home in [[Lynn, Massachusetts]]. He was buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn.<ref name=BGobit/><ref name=DEIobit/>

His son, Gary Dancewicz, played at [[Boston College]]. His grandson [[Chris Pizzotti]] was a quarterback at Harvard.<ref name="gocrimson1">{{cite web|url=http://www.gocrimson.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9000&ATCLID=523109|title=Francis Dancewicz|publisher=Go Crimson|access-date=June 5, 2012}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback navbox}}
{{1943 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football navbox}}
{{1946 NFL Draft}}
{{NFL NumberOne Draft Picks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dancewicz, Frank}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Lynn, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:American football quarterbacks]]
[[Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players]]
[[Category:First overall NFL draft picks]]
[[Category:Boston Yanks players]]
[[Category:Wilmington Clippers players]]

Frank Dancewicz - Revision history

imported>Jevansen: Removing from Category:Players of American football from Essex County, Massachusetts using Cat-a-lot