Walter George Patulski is a former
American footballAmerican 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...
defensive endDefensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...
at the
University of Notre DameThe University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
and the
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
.
High school
Patulski was a star athlete at
Christian Brothers AcademyChristian Brothers Academy is a private, Catholic college preparatory school in suburban Syracuse, New York run by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, founded by St. John Baptist de La Salle. Located within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, the school has roughly 750 students in grades...
in
Syracuse, New YorkSyracuse 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...
, where he was a three-year letterman in football, basketball, and track and field. In his senior season in 1967, the 6-foot-5 fullback scored 140 points and led the Brothers to a 7-1 record. He was All-City in football and basketball. A High School All-American, he received over 60 scholarship offers to play football.
In 1991, Patulski was voted to the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame for his activities as a high school athlete.
College career
At the
University of Notre DameThe University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, Patulski was converted into a defensive end. He was an
All-AmericaAn All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n in 1971, and he won the 1971
Lombardi AwardThe Rotary Lombardi Award is awarded annually to the best college football lineman or linebacker. The Lombardi Award program was approved by the Rotary Club in Houston in 1970 shortly after the death of Vince Lombardi. The committee outlined the criteria for eligibility for the award, which...
, which is given to
college footballCollege football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
's best lineman. A Fighting Irish captain, he finished ninth in that year’s
Heisman TrophyThe Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
balloting. Selected the
Nation's Lineman of the YearThe United Press International college football lineman of the year award was among the first and most recognized college football awards. With the demise of UPI in 1997 the award was discontinued. Offensive and defensive linemen were eligible, including offensive ends, with one, Howard Twilley,...
by UPI and Gridiron Magazine in 1971. Patulski was named to
Football News sophomore All-America squad in 1969 and was an honorable mention All-American in 1970.
Started every game in his collegiate career, and totaled 186 tackles, 40 for losses; broke up 10 passes; recovered five fumbles and returned one blocked punt 12 yards. In his final football season at Notre Dame, 1971, he was the team defensive MVP. Patulski made 74 tackles, 22 more than his total for the 1970 season. Seventeen of those stops resulted losses for the opposing team. Patulski also broke up six passes, recovered one fumble. The 1969-1971 Irish rushing defenses and total defenses were ranked in the nation's top six all three years and its scoring defense was in the top ten in 1970 and 1971 and complied a record of 25-4-1 over those three seasons while Patulski was a starter.
He was awarded the game ball for his performance in the Irish initial 1971 contest against
NorthwesternNorthwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
and was acclaimed as national lineman of the week following the North Carolina game. His play versus Michigan State prompted the head coach Duffy Dougherty to hail him as Notre Dame's "finest defender".
Patulski was later named to Notre Dame's All-Century team. He played in the 1971 Cotton Bowl Classic and the
Hula BowlThe Hula Bowl was an independently administered post-season invitational college football game held each year in Hawaii from 1947 to 2008. The game was last played at Aloha Stadium in the Hālawa district of Honolulu, Hawaii. At one point the longest-running sporting event in Hawaii, it had been...
. In the Hula Bowl he won the Defensive Lineman of the Game award. In the summer of 1972, Patulski played in the College All-Star game, in Chicago, IL.
Patulski was lauded by one team as "(T)he best we've seen for many years." All but unstoppable on the pass rush, he dazzled the experts with his "amazing agility and lateral mobility."
1971 Heisman Voting
|
1st—Pat SullivanPatrick Joseph Sullivan is an American football coach and former player. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1971 playing quarterback for the Auburn Tigers and then played in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins. Sullivan is currently the head coach at Samford University...
, Auburn, Sr., QB, 1,597 Points
2nd—Ed MarinaroEd Marinaro is an American former football player turned actor.-Football career:Marinaro played high school football in New Milford, New Jersey, for the New Milford High School Knights....
, Cornell, Sr., RB, 1,445 Points
3rd—Greg PruittGregory Donald Pruitt is a former American football running back in the NFL from 1973 through 1984. He was selected to five Pro Bowls, four as a member of the Cleveland Browns and one as a member of the Los Angeles Raiders, the last one as a kick returner...
, Oklahoma, Jr., RB, 586 Points
4th—Johnny Musso, Alabama, Sr., RB, 365 Points
5th—Lydell MitchellLydell Douglas Mitchell , is a former professional American football player. He played running back in the National Football League for the Baltimore Colts, San Diego Chargers and Los Angeles Rams spanning 1972-1980....
, Penn State, Sr., RB, 251 Points
6th—Jack MildrenLarry Jack Mildren a native Texan, was an All-American quarterback at The University of Oklahoma in his college years, and professional football player with the Baltimore Colts and New England Patriots, an oil company owner, was elected as the 13th Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma, and enjoyed a...
, Oklahoma, Sr., QB, 208 Points
7th—Jerry TaggeJerry Lee Tagge is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the NFL, WFL, and CFL from 1972-79. He is best known as the quarterback of the Nebraska Cornhusker teams which won national championships in 1970 and 1971....
, Nebraska, Sr., QB, 168 Points
8th—Chuck EaleyCharles "Chuck" Ealey is a former football player for Notre Dame High School, University of Toledo, and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.-High school and college years:...
, Toledo, Sr., QB, 137 Points
9th—Walt Patulski, Notre Dame, Sr., DE, 121 Points
10th—Eric AllenEric Andre Allen is a former professional American football cornerback who played in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, and Oakland Raiders from 1988 to 2001....
, Michigan State, Sr., RB, 109 Points
>
Pro career
Patulski was drafted by the
Buffalo BillsThe Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
with the first overall pick of the 1972
NFL DraftThe National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...
. He was the last Notre Dame player to be drafted #1 overall. His size and speed were among the reasons he was highly touted: At 6'6" and 250 pounds, he could run the
40The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time in the 40 can have a heavy impact on his prospects in college or professional football...
in 4.9 seconds.
As a rookie, led the Bills in sacks with 5. In 1973 the Bills improved to a 9-5 record after going 4-9-1 in his rookie season of 1972. Patulski recorded 7 sacks, which was second on the team and was voted AP NFL Defensive Player of the Week November 28, 1973, after week eleven. In 1974, the Bills recorded another 9-5 record and made the playoffs for the first time in eight years as Patulski recorded 5-1/2 sacks. The Bills were 8-6 his third season, but did not advance to the AFC playoffs. He recorded only 4 sacks, a career low, however, 2 came in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals offensive line, who gave up only 8 sacks in 1975. Patulski lined up against St. Louis all-pro and
Pro Football Hall of FameThe Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
offensive tackle
Dan DierdorfDaniel Lee "Dan" Dierdorf is a former American football player and current television sportscaster. He played 13 NFL seasons and has worked for ABC's Monday Night Football and CBS as a color commentator since retiring from football....
, and had a spectacular game. Patulski harassed Hart all day and was one of the reasons the Cards were held to just 54 yards on the ground. He played 4 years (1972–75) with the Bills, and then he was traded to the Cardinals for a second-round draft pick. And played one year with the St. Louis Cardinals (1976). He suffered career-ending knee injury in 1976.
However, Patulski's career was considered unsuccessful. In fact, ESPN ranked him as the 27th biggest draft bust of all-time on April 18, 2008.
Personal
Walt is a recipient of the Key to Syracuse (New York) for his distinguished community service. He served for six years as Commissioner of the Syracuse Board of Education, and has also been a board member of the
Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He has also recently been guest speaker at the National Football Foundation.
Appointed later elected, Commissioner of Education, Syracuse School District, 1980.
Patulski has two daughters, Wallis and Emily. Wallis is a graduate of
George Washington UniversityThe George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
. Emily graduated from
Boston UniversityBoston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
where she majored in psychology.