Jim Grabowski

{{Short description|American football player and broadcaster (born 1944)}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Jim Grabowski

| image =

| caption =

| number = 33

| position = Halfback

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1944|9|9}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 2

| weight_lb = 220

| high_school = Taft (Chicago)

| college = Illinois

| draftyear = 1966

| draftround = 1

| draftpick = 9

| afldraftyear = 1966

| afldraftround = 1

| afldraftpick = 1

| pastteams =

Green Bay Packers ({{NFL Year|1966|1970}})
Chicago Bears ({{NFL Year|1971}})

| highlights =

2× NFL champion (1966, 1967)
2× Super Bowl champion (I, II)
Sporting News Player of the Year (1965)
Consensus All-American (1965)
First-team All-American (1964)
Chicago Tribune Silver Football (1965)
2× First-team All-Big Ten (1964–1965)
Second-team All-Big Ten (1963)

| statlabel1 = Rushing yards

| statvalue1 = 1,731

| statlabel2 = Rush attempts

| statvalue2 = 475

| statlabel3 = Rushing touchdowns

| statvalue3 = 8

| statlabel4 = Receptions

| statvalue4 = 82

| statlabel5 = Receiving yards

| statvalue5 = 675

| pfr = G/GrabJi00

| CollegeHOF = 1910

}}

James Grabowski (born September 9, 1944) is an American former football player and broadcaster.

He played as a running back in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Green Bay Packers.

Grabowski played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini, earning consensus All-American honors in 1965. He was selected in the first round of the 1966 NFL draft with the ninth overall pick. Grabowski played in the NFL for Green Bay and the Chicago Bears, winning two Super Bowls with the Packers. He was an analyst on Illinois football radio broadcasts for nearly 30 years, retiring after the 2006 season.

Collegiate playing career

Grabowski entered the University of Illinois in 1962, out of Taft High School in Chicago. At Illinois, Grabowski was a star running back, and was named Associated Press All-American in both 1964 and 1965. As a sophomore in 1963, Grabowski was named Most Valuable Player of the Rose Bowl, after leading the Fighting Illini to a 17–7 comeback victory over the Washington Huskies.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qDlWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HekDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6751%2C550631 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |agency=Associated Press |last=Myers |first=Bob |title=Illinois' Jim Grabowski, smart defense defeat crippled, gallant Washington 17-7|date=January 2, 1964 |page=16 }} Grabowski received many awards and recognitions after his senior season in 1965, including finishing third in the Heisman Trophy voting, being named The Sporting News co-player of the year and Back of the Year by the Washington Touchdown Club, and receiving the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten Conference Most Valuable Player. He finished as the all-time leader in rushing yards in Big Ten history. Grabowski was also an outstanding student at the University of Illinois, having been named GTE Academic All-American in 1964 and 1965, and graduated with a degree in finance in 1966.

Grabowski is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, inducted in 1995. He was also inducted into the GTE Academic All-American Hall of Fame and the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. Additionally, Grabowski was named to the University of Illinois "All-Century" team, and is a member of the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.

1963: 141 carries for 616 yards and 7 TD. 3 catches for 21 yards.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/jim-grabowski-1.html |title=Jim Grabowski Stats | College Football at Sports-Reference.com |access-date=May 16, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603013803/http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/jim-grabowski-1.html |archive-date=June 3, 2015 }}
1964: 186 carries for 1004 yards and 10 TD. 9 catches for 101 yards.
1965: 252 carries for 1258 yards and 7 TD. 3 catches for 22 yards.

Professional playing career

Grabowski was selected in the first round of the 1966 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers, with the ninth overall selection, held on November 27, 1965, only a week after his college playing career ended. (Grabowski was also taken as the first overall pick in the AFL draft, by the expansion Miami Dolphins.){{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DsUiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Y7cFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6075%2C8249466 |newspaper=Palm Beach Post |location=Florida |agency=Associated Press |title=Miami grabs Jim Grabowski |date=November 28, 1965 |page=D1 }} Grabowski played five seasons for the Packers, and was known as one of Green Bay's "Gold Dust Twins" (along with fellow rookie running back Donny Anderson) in the late Sixties.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TXdQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GBEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6725%2C4360687 |newspaper=Milwaukee Sentinel| last = Lea | first = Bud | author-link = Bud Lea |title=Donny, Jim may see more play |date=October 20, 1966 |page=1, part 2 }}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Q2EqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=k08EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7340%2C3677292 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |last=Gross |agency=North American Alliance |first=Milton |title=Jim Grabowski makes amends with Packers |date=October 23, 1967 |page=47}}

After he gained the starting position in 1967, a series of injuries hampered his career. He was the Packers' leading rusher in 1967 with 466 yards, while also catching 12 passes for 171 more, but a late-season injury forced him to miss the postseason, including their win in Super Bowl II. With a new head coach in 1971, Grabowski was waived by Green Bay in August,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DKVRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_xAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4403%2C3298895 |newspaper=Milwaukee Sentinel | last = Lea | first = Bud | author-link = Bud Lea |title=Grabowski, Clancy cut by Packers |date=August 19, 1971 |page=1, part 2}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=92UtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sokFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1870%2C4117975 |newspaper=Schenectady Gazette |location=New York |agency=Associated Press |title=Pack asks waivers on Jim Grabowski |date=August 19, 1971 |page=41 }} picked up by the Chicago Bears for the season, and retired in training camp in September 1972.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PnhPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8lEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6435%2C4027659 |newspaper=Bryan Times |location=Ohio |agency=UPI |title=Jim Grabowski quits pro ball |date=September 2, 1971 |page=7 }} Over his six seasons in the NFL, Grabowski rushed for 1,731 yards and scored 12 touchdowns: eight rushing, three receiving, and one after a fumble by Mel Renfro, which he returned for an 18-yard score in the 1966 NFL Championship Game versus the Dallas Cowboys.

References

{{1965 NCAA Division I FBS College Football Consensus All-Americans}}

Category:1944 births

Category:Living people

Category:American football running backs

Category:Arena football announcers

Category:Chicago Bears players

Category:Green Bay Packers players

Category:Illinois Fighting Illini football players

Category:United States Football League announcers

Category:All-American college football players

Category:American Football League first overall draft picks

Category:Players of American football from Chicago

Category:American people of Polish descent

Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees