George Savitsky

{{Short description|American football player (1924–2012)}}

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

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = George Savitsky

| number = 75, 64

| position = Offensive tackle

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|7|30|mf=y}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|9|4|1924|7|30}}

| death_place = Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 2

| weight_lb = 244

| high_school = Camden
(Camden, New Jersey)

| college = Penn

| draftyear = 1947

| draftround = 5

| draftpick = 30

| pastteams =

• Philadelphia Eagles ({{NFL Year|1948|1949}})

| highlights =

• 2× NFL champion (1948, 1949)
• Consensus All-American (1945)
• 3× First-team All-American (1944, 1946, 1947)
• 2× First-team All-Eastern (1944, 1945)

| statlabel1 = Games played

| statvalue1 = 24

| statlabel2 = Fumble recoveries

| statvalue2 = 2

| pfr = SaviGe20

| CollegeHOF = 1700

}}

George Michael Savitsky (July 30, 1924 – September 4, 2012) was an American football offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Born in New York City, Savitsky grew up in Camden, New Jersey and played football at Camden High School where he was captain of the undefeated squad in 1942.

He played college football at the University of Pennsylvania where he excelled as both an offensive and defensive tackle, and became the only four-year All American of the 20th century.{{cite book|author=Rich Westcott|title=A Century of Philadelphia Sports|url=https://archive.org/details/centuryofphilade0000west|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=Temple University Press|isbn=978-1-56639-861-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/centuryofphilade0000west/page/171 171]}}{{cite web |title=2018 Penn Football Fact Book |url=https://pennathletics.com/documents/2018/10/11//2018_Penn_Football_Fact_Book.pdf?id=15036 |website=pennathletics.com |publisher=Penn Athletics |page=140 |format=PDF}} At Penn, he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa. During the summers of his college years, the versatile Savitsky taught swimming and diving at the Flanders Hotel pools in Ocean City, NJ. He was drafted by the Eagles in the fifth round of the 1947 NFL draft.

Savitsky was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991.

Savitsky, at {{convert|6|ft|3|in}} and {{convert|252|lb}}, is considered one of best two-way tackles in the history of college football. While at Penn, he helped to mentor fellow college All-Americans Tony Minisi and college and pro football Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik. Due to the low pay scale in the NFL in the late 1940s, he retired from pro football and entered dental school; thereafter he enjoyed a long and successful career as a dentist in southern New Jersey. For years, Savitsky was a member of the "Mungermen," a group of former Penn players under Hall-of-Fame coach George Munger who gathered periodically on game days.

A resident of Ocean City, New Jersey, he died of pneumonia in Somers Point, New Jersey in 2012 at the age of 88.{{cite web |url=http://www.csnphilly.com/football-philadelphia-eagles/eagles-talk/Savitsky-of-Eagles-48-49-champs-dies-at-?blockID=768897&feedID=692 |title=Savitsky, of Eagles' '48-'49 champs, dies at 88 |publisher=Csnphilly.com |access-date=2012-09-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130120073734/http://www.csnphilly.com/football-philadelphia-eagles/eagles-talk/Savitsky-of-Eagles-48-49-champs-dies-at-?blockID=768897&feedID=692 |archive-date=2013-01-20 }}Mazda, Jason. [https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/eagles/late-ex-eagle-tackle-george-savitsky-of-ocean-city-an/article_21d7b382-0d12-11e2-92ab-001a4bcf887a.html "Late ex-Eagle tackle George Savitsky, of Ocean City, an All-American at Penn, humble about football exploits"], The Press of Atlantic City, October 3, 2012. Accessed November 6, 2018. "Football was never the No. 1 priority for Savitsky, a longtime Ocean City resident who passed away Sept. 4 at 88 from pneumonia."