Charles J. Wasicek was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player. He played at the guard

Guard (American football)

In American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team....

 and tackle

Tackle (American football)

Tackle is a playing position in American and Canadian football. Historically, in the one-platoon system a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, offensive tackle and defensive tackle are separate positions....

 positions for Colgate University

Colgate University

Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...

 in the 1930s and was selected by Liberty Magazine as a first-team All-American at the tackle position in 1935.

Early years

Wasicek was born in Arnold City, Pennsylvania and raised in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania

Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania

Belle Vernon is a borough located in Fayette County, Pennsylvania along the Monongahela River. The population was 1,211 at the 2000 census. The town is served by the Belle Vernon Area School District, which is actually centered in Rostraver, Westmoreland County.geographical anomaly: The...

. He was the fourth of nine children of August and Justina Wasicek. Wasicek quit school after attending the eighth grade and went to work for the American Window Glass Co. and the Monessen Sheet & Tinplate Co. Wasicek resumed his education, studying at Belle Vernon High School, the Kiski Preparatory School in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania

Saltsburg, Pennsylvania

Saltsburg is a borough in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 955 at the 2000 census. The town was based on the construction of salt wells and the canals and railroad tracks that passed through it.-Geography:...

, and the Dickinson Seminary in Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Williamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. In 2009, the population was estimated at 29,304...

. He graduated from Dickinson in 1932.

Football player

Wasicek enrolled at Colgate University where he played football at the guard and tackle positions in the mid-1930s. In 1935, Wasicek was the captain of the Colgate football team that was undefeated and untied. Despite the undefeated record, Colgate was not invited to a post-season bowl game, leading the team's coach Andy Kerr to coin the famous line, "Unbeaten, untied and uninvited." Wasicek was selected as a first-team tackle on the 1935 Liberty Magazine All-American team, as voted in a poll of 1521 varsity players in all parts of the country. He was also selected as a second-team All-American in 1935 by the United Press, Central Press (through a poll of the year's football captains), and the New York Sun. Wasicek also played in the 1936 East-West Shrine Game and the All-Star Game in Chicago.

Wasicek signed a contract to play football for the Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

, but he opted instead to play for the Syracuse, New York

Syracuse, New York

Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

 football team in the newly-formed American League. The league in which Syracuse played folded after one season. Wasicek next signed to play for a highly-regarded semi-pro team in Danbury, Connecticut

Danbury, Connecticut

Danbury is a city in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It had population at the 2010 census of 80,893. Danbury is the fourth largest city in Fairfield County and is the seventh largest city in Connecticut....

, while working as a hat salesman.

Later years

In 1937, Wasicek retired from playing football and became a teacher. In November 1937, he married Faith Clifford, while working as a history teacher and football coach at the high school in Caledonia, New York

Caledonia, New York

Caledonia, New York may refer to:*Caledonia , New York, located in Livingston County*Caledonia , New York, located within the Town of Caledonia...

. Wasicek remained at Caledonia from 1937-1939. In 1939, Wasickek accepted a position as a teacher and football and track coach at the high school in Hornell, New York

Hornell, New York

Hornell is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 9,019 at the 2000 census. The city is named after the Hornell family, early settlers. Its current population has not yet been released by the new census....

, where he remained until 1942. In four years coaching at Hornell, Wasicek's football teams lost only five games and either won or tied for the county championship three times.

In 1942, Wasicek enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was commissioned as a lieutenant. During World War II, Wasicek served as a battery officer and helped train gun crews in Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

. After being discharged from the military in 1945, Wasicek operated a grocery store founded by his father in Belle Vernon. Wasicek also worked in the homebuilding business during the 1950s before returning to the teaching profession, teaching geography at Belle Vernon Area High School from 1957-1973.

Wasicek died at the E.J. Meyer Hospital in Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

, after suffering a heart attack at age 68. He was survived by his wife, Faith Vivian Clifford Wasicek, and two children, Dr. Charles A. Wasicek, Jr., and Justina Wasicek.