Fred Bednarski
| No. 35 | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Uście Biskupie, Poland (today Ustia, Ukraine) |
| Career information | |
| College: | Texas |
Fred Bednarski is a retired placekicker in American football. He is often credited with introducing the "soccer-style" kick to American football, setting a new standard for kickers in the sport.[1]
Early life
Born in Poland during the Russian and then German
Career
Bednarski's football career began with the Texas Longhorns in 1956 after Head Coach Darrell Royal of the Washington Huskies was informed by his scout who had just returned from scouting Texas for the team about the "soccer-style" kicker named Bednarski. In contrast to the traditional football kick used at the time in which the kicker would approach the ball from directly behind and contact the ball with his foot, Bednarski approached the ball from roughly a 45-degree angle and made contact with the ball with the side of his foot, swinging his leg in a "golf club"-like motion.[3]
On October 19, 1957, Bednarski kicked the first-ever "soccer-style"
See also
- Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
- Pete Gogolak
References
- ^ a b Sherrington, Kevin (8 December 2012). "Often overlooked, Texas' Bednarski is the true pioneer of soccer-style kick". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
- ^ a b srr50 (11 February 2010). "UT's Fred Bednarski: College Football Pioneer". SB Nation. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Palmer, Christopher (9 February 2010). "Nazi labor camp survivor makes football history". University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 28 December 2014.