Oct 24, 2002 By Jim Kriek For The 7 min read

One of Brownsville’s all-time great athletic names has achieved an exclusive honor – one that only 69 other men in the entire country can share with him. Chuck Drazenovich, who went from athletic honors at Brownsville High School to earn all-time recognition in two sports, has been named one of the “70 Greatest Redskins” and will be honored the weekend of October 25-27 when the Washington Redskins host the Indianapolis Colts.

This year being the 70th anniversary of the Redskins as a member of the National Football League, a 12-member panel, headed by former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw, was given the task of selecting the 70 greatest players in the team’s history.

The 70 will be honored during a weekend celebration starting Friday, October 25, and will include a black-tie charity ball, and a halftime ceremony during the game on October 27 with Indianapolis, which will be televised on ESPN.

Of the 70 honorees, 11 are deceased, including Drazenovich, who died in 1992. The lineup includes 67 former players, starting with running back Cliff Battles and tackle Turk Edwards, from the first 1932 lineup, and coaches Ray Flaherty, George Allen, and Joe Gibbs.

In a letter to the wife of the honoree, Mrs. Betty Drazenovich, the former Betty Sabolish of Grindstone, Redskins owner Daniel M. Snyder said “Chuck was a genuine symbol of the Redskins tradition that has carried on for seven decades. Each of the 70 Greatest Redskins embodies an important piece of this prestigious organization. Chuck’s past contributions will help mark this momentous occasion in Redskins history….His selection to the most elite group ever assembled by the franchise will commemorate this year’s 70th anniversary celebration.”

The selection committee began with a list of 275 possible candidates, as compiled by the Redskins, and was told to add or subtract names as they chose. Choices were limited to on-field play only, by players who were with the team at least three years. The list was pared to 102 finalists, and their names were listed on the Redskins Internet for a month’s voting.

Drazenovich played 10 years in Washington, the first five going two ways as a kick returner, running back, pass receiver, and linebacker, and the last five he was exclusively a middle linebacker. Offensively, he caught 10 passes for 139 yards, returned four kicks 55 yards, and carried the ball 117 times for 330 yards. Defensively, he had 15 pass interceptions returned 165 yards, and recovered seven fumbles. He was also an “ironman” player, missing only seven games in his career, three in 1951, and four in 1953. He also played in five Pro Bowl games.

Mrs. Drazenovich recalled that “for the first couple of years he played, I was excited, but after that I stayed home and either watched the game on TV or listened on the radio. It was trying some games, but I tried to keep track of the game from a middle linebacker’s point of view.

“Chuck might lose up to 14 pounds in a game, then when he came home he would get on the couch and not eat until the next morning. His philosophy was that an opponent should ‘go the other way, because you aren’t going to get through here.'”

He didn’t have all that much weight to lose during a game, for his Football Encyclopedia figures list him as 6-1 and 225.

Bob Petriello, long time sports editor of the Brownsville Telegraph, covered Drazenovich as a high school player, and recalled him as “a very rough, tough football player, a great player. Just so tough that when he hit you, you didn’t ask for a second shot. Chuck was a good athlete, but more than that, he was a good man.”

Petriello remembered also that “from the 1943 championship Brownsville team, coached by Earl Bruce, five of those players went on to start for Penn State. Chuck was the quarterback in the single wing and the blocking back, his brother, Joe, and John Simon were guards, John Potsklan, who was also team captain, was an end, and John (Shag) Wolosky, who was the same type of player as Chuck, was the center.”

In his book, “The Penn State Football Encyclopedia,” Lou Prato (with Ron Falk) called Drazenovich “the Iron Man of the late 40’s,” and also cited him as “one of the toughest and most durable Penn State players ever, who played more than three-fourths of every game from his sophomore year on. Primarily a blocking back and play caller and sometimes pass receiver in the single-wing offense, and linebacker on defense….the hardest hitter on the team. Gained national recognition in the 1948 Cotton Bowl as leader of the quick-hitting defensive team that stymied SMU’s future Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker, in a 13-13 tie. Was one of the reasons the 1947 team was undefeated and set several NCAA defensive records, three of which still stand.”

Chuck is still the only Penn State football player to be in both the East-West Game and the Cotton Bowl.

While at Penn State, Drazenovich earned another honor, in a sport that was dropped some time ago by the nation’s colleges. At that time, Penn State competed in intercollegiate boxing, and coach Leo Houck talked Chuck into joining his team.

The defending NCAA heavyweight champion was Marty Crandall of Syracuse, who Chuck flattened to win the college heavyweight title, which he held three years.

Petriello recalled that “Jake Mintz wanted Chuck to become a boxer, but he went instead for football.”

There are still some observers who thought that he might have made a strong bid for the heavyweight title if he had gone into boxing.

Chuck was also active in track, setting a Penn State discus record, and giving his wife one of her favorite stories about him.

Mrs. Drazenovich recalled “he had been in Brownsville, and had to get back to Penn State for a track meet. He got there just in time to get on the field, in fact he was still wearing a white shirt when he competed, and he set the school record. But that’s how he was about everything. He never planned, just took things as they came, and made the most of it.”

In 1960, Chuck and former Washington teammate Al Demao coached an underdog North team to a 6-6 tie in the annual North-South Shrine football game. Then he spent four years helping broadcast the Redskin games.

After that, Chuck went into bowling, working as manager of the Annandale, Va., Bowling Center (1960-74), then became manager of Bowl America Fairfax (Va.), a post he held until his death. He developed bowling programs for the physically handicapped, for juvenile delinquents in which he tried to teach them teamwork, responsibility, and a sense of community, plus programs for children of all ages, and for Seniors, and sponsoring blood drives, food drives, charity events, and socials. In 1995, he was inducted into the Washington Bowling Hall of Fame.

Along with his wife, who still lives in Annandale, Chuck had two daughters, Lori and Cheri.

Perhaps two of the finest tributes accorded to Drazenovich came from two well known football names in their own right.

When Frank Gifford was presented the Most Valuable Player award, he said of Chuck “he plays great, but he plays for a losing team. But I think the man who should get this award is on the field right now.”

And it was the great coach Vince Lombardi who would single Chuck out as “a player to watch when you plan for a game. The brains to the whole operation is the defensive coach.”

As Bob Petriello said, great honors “for a great man.”

(Editor’s Note: Many thanks are extended to Mrs. Betty Drazenovich, Bob Petriello, and Bob Zias of Grindstone for their help with this article).