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{{Short description|American football player (1904–1980)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Frank Kirkleski
| image =
| caption =
| number = 1, 32, 29
| position = [[Halfback (American football)|Halfback]]
| birth_date = {{Birth_date|1904|5|19}}
| birth_place = [[Nutley, New Jersey]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|5|6|1904|5|19}}
| death_place = [[Point Pleasant, New Jersey]], U.S.
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 11
| weight_lbs = 179
| college = [[Lafayette Leopards football|Lafayette]]
| highlights =
* Third-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1926 College Football All-America Team|1926]])
* First-team All-Eastern ([[1926 All-Eastern football team|1926]])
* Second-team All-Eastern ([[1925 All-Eastern football team|1925]])
* Lafayette Maroon Club Hall Of Fame (2001)
* Nutley High School Athletic Hall of Fame (2008)
| teams =
* [[Pottsville Maroons]] (1927)
* [[Orange Athletic Club]] (1928)
* [[Orange Tornadoes]] (1929)
* [[Newark Tornadoes]] (1930)
* [[Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)|Brooklyn Dodgers]] (1931)
| pastcoaching =
* Passaic Red Devils (1932–1933)<br>Head coach
* Wessington Red Devils (1936)<br>Head coach
* Paterson Panthers (1937–1939)<br>Head coach
* [[Hutchinson Naval Air Station Gobs football|Hutchinson NAS]] (1945)<br>Backfield coach
| pfr = KirkFr20
}}
'''Frank William Kirkleski''' (May 19, 1904 – May 6, 1980) was an [[American football]] player and educator.<ref>{{Cite web |author= |title=Frank Kirkleski Coaching Record |url=https://www.profootballarchives.com/coach/kirk01600coach.html |publisher=Pro Football Archives |access-date=April 1, 2023 }}</ref> He played during the early years of the [[National Football League]] (NFL) for the [[Pottsville Maroons]], [[Orange/Newark Tornadoes]], and [[Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)|Brooklyn Dodgers]]. Kirkleski played [[college football]] at [[Lafayette College]], in which he graduated from in 1927.

==College playing career==
While at Lafayette, Kirkleski was known as a hard-hitting back. He played all four of his college years as a varsity [[Halfback (American football)|halfback]]. During his freshman season, he shocked Lafayette's archrival, [[Lehigh University]], with a [[touchdown]] run that gave the Leopards a 13–3 last-minute victory in 1923. Lehigh only scored three points in Kirkleski's four years at Lafayette. In his sophomore year, he helped guide Lafayette to a 7–2 record. He was named the team's captain during his senior year. It was then that he helped the Leopards capture their third [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|national championship]] with a 9–0 record. He received second and third-team [[All-America]]n honors from the ''New York Telegraph'' and ''The New York World'' in 1926.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/lafa/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/FB02_101-119.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=February 2, 2009 |archive-date=August 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820143252/http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/lafa/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/FB02_101-119.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was later inducted into the school's Maroon Club Hall Of Fame in 2001.

==Professional playing career==
===Pottsville Maroons===
After college, Kirkleski played for the [[Pottsville Maroons]] of the [[National Football League]] (NFL). In his professional debut, Kirkleski threw two touchdown passes to lead the Maroons over the [[Buffalo Bisons (NFL)|Buffalo Bisons]], 22–0. Then on October 16, 1927, he led his team down the field on three passes, where he recovered a fumble, by teammate [[Tony Latone]], in the endzone to give the Maroons a last minute win over the [[Providence Steam Roller]]. Kirkleski would haunt Providence again in a rematch on November 24. In that game, he threw a 21-yard pass to [[Gus Kenneally]] to give Pottsville a 6–0 victory.

===Orange Athletic Club===
In 1928, Kirkleski joined the independent [[Orange Athletic Club]] from [[New Jersey]]. During a game against the NFL's [[Staten Island Stapletons]], he threw for a touchdown and combined, with another quarterback, to throw for 143 yards on 23 passes without an [[interception]], which was an accomplishment in 1928. However Kirkleski gave up a costly interception, in the team's finale against the Stapletons, which was returned for a Staten Island touchdown. That error resulted in a 6—0 Orange loss.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/16-03-564.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=October 3, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203043853/http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/16-03-564.pdf |archive-date=December 3, 2013 }}</ref>

===Orange–Newark Tornadoes===
In 1929, Kirkleski joined the [[Orange/Newark Tornadoes|Orange Tornadoes]] and had one rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown that season. When the team was renamed the Newark Tornadoes in 1930, Kirkleski rushed for one touchdown.

===Brooklyn Dodgers===
Kirkleski's final year in professional football, in 1931, was spent with the [[Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)|Brooklyn Dodgers]]. He only played three games that season and did not register a score for that season.

==Coaching and teaching career==
Kirkleski served as an officer in the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]]. He was the backfield coach for the [[1945 Hutchinson Naval Air Station Gobs football team]].<ref>{{cite news |author= |title=Hutchinson Will Play Football |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122069401/the-wichita-beacon/ |newspaper=[[The Wichita Eagle]] |location=[[Wichita, Kansas]] |date=September 14, 1945 |page=14 |access-date=April 1, 2023 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{Open access}} }}</ref>

Kirkleski coach football and [[baseball]] at [[Nutley High School]] and [[Woodbridge High School (New Jersey)|Woodbridge High School]] in New Jersey. He was the vice principal at Jefferson High School and principal at Grover Cleveland Junior High School before retiring in 1968.

==Death==
Kirkleski died on May 6, 1980, at Point Pleasant Hospital in [[Point Pleasant, New Jersey]].<ref>{{cite news |author= |title=Frank W. Kirkleski, 1926 All-America |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122079153/obituary-for-frank-w-kirkleski/ |newspaper=[[Asbury Park Press]] |location=[[Asbury Park, New Jersey]] |date=May 6, 1980 |page=A19 |access-date=April 1, 2023 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{Open access}} }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Footballstats |nfl=frank-Kkrkleski |espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |si= |pfr=K/KirkFr20 |rotoworld= }}

{{1926 Lafayette Leopards football navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkleski, Frank}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American educators]]
[[Category:American football halfbacks]]
[[Category:American school principals]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) players]]
[[Category:Hutchinson Naval Air Station Gobs football coaches]]
[[Category:Lafayette Leopards football players]]
[[Category:Newark Tornadoes players]]
[[Category:Orange Tornadoes players]]
[[Category:Pottsville Maroons players]]
[[Category:High school baseball coaches in the United States]]
[[Category:High school football coaches in New Jersey]]
[[Category:United States Navy officers]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Nutley, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Coaches of American football from New Jersey]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Essex County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Educators from New Jersey]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Essex County, New Jersey]]

Frank Kirkleski - Revision history

imported>Alansohn: refine categories (via WP:JWB)