Eddie Prokop

American football player (1922–1955)

Eddie Prokop
Career information
No. 72, 70
Prokop from The 1944 Blue Print
Date of birth	(1922-02-11)February 11, 1922
Place of birth	Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Date of death	May 30, 1955(1955-05-30) (aged 33)
Place of death	Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Position(s)	Back
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg)
US college	Georgia Tech
NFL draft	1945 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4
Drafted by	Boston Yanks
Career history
As player
1946–1947	Boston Yanks
1948	Chicago Rockets
1949	New York Bulldogs

Career highlights and awards
Second-team All-American (1943) First-team All-SEC (1943)

Edward Stanley Prokop (February 11, 1922 – May 30, 1955) was an American football player. He played college football at the Georgia Institute of Technology and in the National Football League (NFL) in the 1940s. He was the first pick (4th overall) in the 1945 NFL draft for the Boston Yanks.^[1]

College career

Prokop played college football at Georgia Tech under coach William Alexander and was a 1969 Hall of Fame inductee there.^[2] In the 1944 Sugar Bowl Prokop led his #13 Yellow Jackets to 20–18 victory over #15 ranked Tulsa. In that game he rushed for 199 yards, threw a touchdown and kicked two extra points.^[3] The Sugar Bowl did not award a game MVP until 1948.

NFL career

Prokop was the fourth overall pick of the 1945 NFL draft, selected by the Boston Yanks, and played for them in the 1946 and 1947 seasons. He played for the Chicago Rockets in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in 1948, and then returned to the Yanks, who became the New York Bulldogs in 1949, his final season as a professional.^[4]

After football

After his playing days, Prokop was a sales engineer for National Solvent Corp. in Cleveland.^[5]

Death

At age 33 in 1955, Prokop suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, originally thought to be heat exhaustion, at his Cleveland home. He died later that day at Huron Road Hospital.^[5]

Personal life

Prokop's brother Joe also played in the AAFC.^[6]

References

^ "Eddie Prokop NFL Football Statistics". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
^ "Georgia Tech Official Athletic Site". Ramblinwreck.cstv.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
^ Casey Bienvenu. "1944 Game Recap / Allstate Sugar Bowl". Allstatesugarbowl.org. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
^ "Eddie Prokop Past Stats, Statistics, History, and Awards". databaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Hemorrhage fatal to Prokop, former Tech grid star". Rome News-Tribune. (Georgia). Associated Press. May 31, 1955. p. 6.
^ "Joe Prokop". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 24, 2015.