Chet Hanulak

{{Short description|American football player (born 1933)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

|image=Chet Hanulak - 1954 Bowman.jpg

|caption=Hanulak on a 1954 Bowman football card

| name = Chet Hanulak

| birth_date={{Birth date|1933|3|28}}

| birth_place = Hackensack, New Jersey, U.S.

| death_date={{Death date and age|2021|9|10|1933|3|28}}

| death_place = Salisbury, Maryland, U.S.

| number = 44

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 10

| weight_lbs = 185

| position=Running back

| college=University of Maryland

| high_school = Hackensack

| draftyear=1954

| draftround=2

| draftpick = 24

| pfr=HanuCh20

|module={{Infobox college coach

| embed = yes

| coach_years1 = 1972-1978

| coach_team1 = Salisbury University
QB/RB

}}

| pastteams =

• Cleveland Browns ({{NFL Year|1954}},{{NFL Year|1957}})

| highlights =

• NFL champion (1954)
• National champion (1953)
• First-team All-ACC (1953)

| statlabel1 = Rushing yards

| statvalue1 = 674

| statlabel2 = Rush attempts

| statvalue2 = 184

| statlabel3 = Rushing TDs

| statvalue3 = 7

{{Infobox military person

| embed = yes

| allegiance = {{USA}}

| branch = {{Air Force|United States}}

| serviceyears = 1955–1957

| rank =

| unit =

| battles =

| awards =

}}

}}

Chester Edward Delano Hanulak (March 28, 1933- September 10, 2021) was a former American football player who won an NFL Championship playing running back for two seasons for the Cleveland Browns and a National Championship in 1953 with Maryland. He is one of few players to win a state championship at the high school level, a National championship at the college level and an NFL Championship at the professional level.

File:Chethanulakautograph.jpg

Hanulak played football at Hackensack High School where he was on the 1949 State Championship football team.{{cite web |title=Chester Edward Delano Hanulak |url=https://www.delmarvanow.com/obituaries/sdt051620 |access-date=20 March 2024}}

He was recruited to play on the Maryland Terrapins football team after his high school coach met the Maryland coach while both were attending a summer course.Powell, K. Adam. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NkWTt9D_UMcC&pg=PA3 Border Wars: The First Fifty Years of Atlantic Coast Conference Football], p. 3. Scarecrow Press, 2004. {{ISBN|9780810848399}}. Accessed July 12, 2016. "Hanulak's story was an interesting one, for he was not highly pursued during his days at Hackensack High School in New Jersey." Nicknamed "the Jet", Hanulak played football at Maryland from 1950 to 1954, where he was an All-American and helped the team win the 1953 National Championship (and the 1951 National Championship by some accounts). He played in the team's win in the 1952 Sugar Bowl, when the #3 Terrapins upset the #1 Tennessee Volunteers. He still remains atop Maryland's all-time rushing list, averaging 8.13 yards a touch over his three seasons. He was also an All-Conference baseball player at Maryland in 1954.

He was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1954 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns (24th overall) and helped them to win the 1954 NFL Championship over the Detroit Lions, scoring the final touchdown in the game. He missed the 1955 and 1956 seasons serving in the Air Force, as was common at the time, as a Personnel Officer at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, DC. He returned to the Browns for the 1957 seasons helping them to win the Eastern Conference and return to the NFL Championship Game, but this time they lost to the Lions.

He retired from football in 1958 and moved to Salisbury, MD to work for General Tire Co. He was a local entrepreneur and philanthropist. He also served as QB/RB coach for the Salisbury University Football Team from 1972 to 1978 and helped them with the 1976 Puerto Rico Bowl.

Hanulak was inducted into the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994 and named an ACC Legend in 2012

He died on September 10, 2021.{{cite web|url=https://umterps.com/news/2021/9/11/football-maryland-mourns-the-passing-of-all-time-great-chet-hanulak.aspx|title=Maryland Mourns the Passing of All-Time Great Chet Hanulak|website=UMTerps.com|publisher=Maryland Athletics|access-date=November 4, 2021|date=September 11, 2021}}{{cite news|url=https://www.delmarvanow.com/obituaries/sdt051620|title=Chester Edward Delano Hanulak Obituary|work=The Daily Times|date=September 14, 2021|access-date=November 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104122621/https://www.delmarvanow.com/obituaries/sdt051620|archive-date=November 4, 2021|url-status=live}}