Francis (Frank) Tripucka (The Trip) (b. December 8, 1927, Bloomfield, New Jersey) was a football quarterback at Notre Dame, in Canada, and in the early American Football League. December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Map of Bloomfield Township in Essex County Bloomfield is a Township located in Essex County, New Jersey. ... In American football, each team has 11 players on the field at one time. ... Navy quarterback Aaron Polanco sets up to throw. ... This is a list of athletic conferences of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). ... The University of Notre Dame IPA: is a Roman Catholic institution located in Notre Dame, Indiana, immediately northeast of South Bend, Indiana, United States. ... The NFL Draft (officially the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting) is an annual sports draft in which National Football League (NFL) teams take turns selecting amateur college American football players and other first-time eligible players. ... The 1949 NFL Draft was held on December 21, 1948. ... The Pro Bowl is the National Football Leagues all-star game. ... The Pro Football Hall of Fame and the NFL include American Football League All-Star Games in their statistics for Pro Bowls. From 1961 through 1969, the AFL East All-Stars played the AFL West All-Stars, with the exception of 1965, when an AFL All-Star team played the... City Denver, Colorado Other nicknames Orange Crush Team colors Orange and Broncos Navy Blue [1] Head Coach Mike Shanahan Owner Pat Bowlen General manager Ted Sundquist Mascot Miles League/Conference affiliations American Football League (1960-1969) Western Division (1960-1969) National Football League (1970–present) American Football Conference (1970–present... City Detroit, Michigan Team colors Honolulu Blue, Silver, and Black Head Coach Rod Marinelli Owner William Clay Ford, Sr. ... The Arizona Cardinals are a National Football League team based in Tempe, Arizona. ... The Dallas Texans played in the National Football League for one season, 1952, with a record of 1–11. ... AFL logo The American Football League (AFL) was a professional league of American football that operated from 1960 to 1969. ... City Denver, Colorado Other nicknames Orange Crush Team colors Orange and Broncos Navy Blue [1] Head Coach Mike Shanahan Owner Pat Bowlen General manager Ted Sundquist Mascot Miles League/Conference affiliations American Football League (1960-1969) Western Division (1960-1969) National Football League (1970–present) American Football Conference (1970–present... December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Map of Bloomfield Township in Essex County Bloomfield is a Township located in Essex County, New Jersey. ... This article is about the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. ... AFL logo The American Football League (AFL) was a professional league of American football that operated from 1960 to 1969. ...

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Tripucka was backup quarterback to Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack on Frank Leahy's unbeaten Notre Dame squads in 1946 and 1947. When Lujack graduated, Tripucka became the 1948 starter. He led the team to a 9-0-1 record, their only blemish being a 14-14 tie with USC in the last game of the season. Notre Dame finished #2 in the final polls and Tripucka was named an All American. John Cappellettis 1973 Heisman Trophy is part of an exhibit at the Penn State All-Sports Museum located at Beaver Stadium, on the campus of the Pennsylvania State University. ... Johnny Lujack (born January 4, 1925 in Connellsville) was an American football quarterback for the University of Notre Dame and the Chicago Bears. ... Frank Leahy Francis William Leahy (1907–1973) was an American collegiate football coach, who earned the nickname The Master. He was born in ONeill, Nebraska. ... The University of Southern California (commonly referred to as USC, SC, Southern California, and incorrectly as Southern Cal[1]) is located in the University Park neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, USA. USC is one of the worlds leading private research universities, and was founded in 1880, making it California...

National Football League

When Tripucka graduated the Philadelphia Eagles drafted him with their #1 pick, but traded him to the Detroit Lions before the 1949 season began. He started with the Lions in 1949, and then played the next three seasons with the Chicago Cardinals. City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Team colors Midnight Green, Black, White, and Silver Head Coach Andy Reid Owner Jeffrey Lurie General manager Tom Heckert Fight song Fly, Eagles Fly Mascot Swoop League/Conference affiliations National Football League (1933–present) Eastern Division (1933-1949) American Conference (1950-1952) Eastern Conference (1953-1969) Capitol... City Detroit, Michigan Team colors Honolulu Blue, Silver, and Black Head Coach Rod Marinelli Owner William Clay Ford, Sr. ... The Arizona Cardinals are a National Football League team based in Tempe, Arizona. ...

Saskatchewan Roughriders

In 1953 he moved to Canada to play with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The 'Riders had just hired Frank Filchock as coach, and Tripucka joined him as the starting quarterback. He played there through 1958, when he was traded to the Ottawa Rough Riders, but he was back in Saskatchewan before the end of the 1959 season as coach. The Roughriders were having a dismal season. The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a Canadian Football League team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. ... Frank Filchock was the first Head Coach of the Denver Broncos. ... The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario. ...

Non-Canadians playing Canadian professional football were known as imports. In 1959 each Canadian Football League team was limited to 12 imports. Coach Tripucka was ineligible to play because the Roughriders already had these 12 roster spots filled. However, in the fourteenth game of the season, all three Roughrider quarterbacks were sidelined by injuries. For the last two games, management decided to play Tripucka anyway. Lions Stampeders Eskimos Roughriders Blue Bombers Tiger-Cats Argonauts Alouettes The Canadian Football League (CFL), also known by its French name, Ligue canadienne de football (LCF), is a professional sports league located in Canada that plays Canadian football, and is the second most popular sports league in Canada. ...

Because of the ineligible player, these two games were forfeit in advance. The Roughriders lost the first of them on the scoreboard as well, 20-19 versus the Edmonton Eskimos. In the last game of the season, versus Bud Grant's Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Tripucka had 17 completions in 29 passes and Ferdy Burket ran for five touchdowns. At the end of the game the Roughriders led 37 to 30. The final, official score was Saskatchewan 37, Winnipeg 30 for a Winnipeg victory. The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian Football League team based in Edmonton, Alberta. ... Harry Peter Bud Grant (born May 20, 1927) is best known as the legendary head coach of the American football team the Minnesota Vikings. ... The Winnipeg Blue Bombers is a Canadian Football League team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. ...

Tripucka played seven seasons in Canada.

Denver Broncos

The American Football League was founded in 1960, and Tripucka's old coach at Saskatchewan, Frank Filchock, was hired as the first coach of the new Denver Broncos. He brought Tripucka with him as an assistant coach. However the Broncos also had quarterback problems, and in preseason Filchock sent Tripucka in as a player. He became their first starting quarterback in the regular season and played with the team for four seasons. He was the first U.S. pro quarterback to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. He also threw the first touchdown pass in the history of the A.F.L. In 1962 he was named to the AFL All Star team. City Denver, Colorado Other nicknames Orange Crush Team colors Orange and Broncos Navy Blue [1] Head Coach Mike Shanahan Owner Pat Bowlen General manager Ted Sundquist Mascot Miles League/Conference affiliations American Football League (1960-1969) Western Division (1960-1969) National Football League (1970–present) American Football Conference (1970–present...

Tripucka retired in 1963 after 15 pro seasons. The Broncos subsequently retired his uniform #18.

He is the father of Notre Dame basketball star and Detroit Piston Kelly Tripucka. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Peter Kelly Tripucka (born February 16, 1959 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey) was a National Basketball Association player for the Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz, and Charlotte Hornets from 1981 to 1991. ...

External links

• Short biography at the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
• Tripucka's 1960 Topps football card
• "The Curious Case of the 13th Import", Professional Football Researchers Association
• Full roster of all American Football League players 1960 - 1969