Jack Abendschan

{{Short description|American gridiron football player (born 1942)}}

{{Infobox gridiron football person

|image=

|name=Jack Abendschan

|import=yes

|birth_date={{birth date and age|1942|12|18}}

|birth_place=San Francisco, California, U.S.

|death_date=

|death_place=

|position1=Guard

|position2=Kicker

|number=53

|Height_ft=6

|Height_in=2

|Weight_lbs=245

|high_school=Eunice (NM)

|College=New Mexico

|DraftedYear=

|DraftedRound=

|career_highlights=

Grey Cup champion (1966)
2× Dave Dryburgh Memorial Trophy (1969, 1970)
Second-team All-American (1964)

|stats=

|DatabaseFootball=

|PFR=

|playing_years1={{CFL Year|1965}}–{{CFL Year|1975}}

|playing_team1=Saskatchewan Roughriders

|CFLAllStar={{CFL Year|1967}}, {{CFL Year|1969}}, {{CFL Year|1971}}, {{CFL Year|1972}}, {{CFL Year|1973}}

|CFLWestAllStar={{CFL Year|1966}}, {{CFL Year|1967}}, {{CFL Year|1969}}–{{CFL Year|1973}}

|Awards=

|CFHOF=jack-abendschan

|CFHOFYear=2012

}}

John Jacob "Jack" Abendschan Jr. (born December 18, 1942) is an American former professional football offensive lineman and placekicker who played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1965 through 1975.{{cite news|title=The 1966 Roughriders|work=The Leader-Post|date=2006-06-27|url=http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/pats/story.html?id=ec674b38-dc09-401e-b206-0bbc0e3d4e1b&p=5|access-date=2011-01-20|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108072837/http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/pats/story.html?id=ec674b38-dc09-401e-b206-0bbc0e3d4e1b&p=5|archive-date=2012-11-08}}

Professional career

Jack Abendschan began his career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1965 and remained with them throughout his 11-year CFL career. Abendschan played offensive guard and except for 1968, he played all 16 games of the regular season every year from 1965 to 1973.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cflapedia.com/Players/a/abendschan_jack.htm|title=Jack Abendschan}}{{cite web|url=https://www.profootballarchives.com/playera/aben00100.html|title=Jack Abendschan CFL Stats and Bio|website=profootballarchives.com|access-date=July 30, 2023}}

Abendschan was also an accurate placekicker. His best field goal percentage was 63.2% (24 of 38) in 1970, his next best 60.7% (17 of 28) in 1967, considered very good for the era.

In 1968 Abendschan signed a contract with the Denver Broncos of the American Football League (AFL) but did not make the roster and he resumed his CFL career.John Duxbury and Larry Shainman (eds.), Football Register, 1968. St. Louis: The Sporting News, 1968; p. 3.

Abendschan was part of the 54th Grey Cup championship-winning Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1966 over the Ottawa Rough Riders 29–14, in which he converted their 4 touchdowns.{{cite news|title=Saskatchewan Wins Grey Cup For First Time|work=The Montreal Gazette|date=1966-11-28|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VsQtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1J8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5170,5922403|access-date=2011-01-20}} He also played in the 55th Grey Cup the following year, the 57th Grey Cup of 1969, and the 60th Grey Cup of 1972, losses to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1967 and 1972 and to Ottawa in 1969.

During Abendschan's time as a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, he was named to the CFL's All-Star team 5 times. In 2012, he was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Videos

{{YouTube|Kuclh4OdxCI|Seen in game 3 of the 1970 Western Conference finals in its entirety}}

References

Category:1942 births

Category:Living people

Category:Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees

Category:Canadian football offensive linemen

Category:Canadian football placekickers

Category:New Mexico Lobos football players

Category:Players of Canadian football from San Francisco

Category:Players of American football from San Francisco

Category:Saskatchewan Roughriders players

Category:American football guards