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| Position: | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1947-04-15)April 15, 1947 (age 77) McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | McKees Rocks (PA) Montour | ||||||||
| College: | Penn State | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1969: 1st round, 7th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Thaddeus John Kwalick (born April 15, 1947) is an American former professionalfootball player who was atight end in theNational Football League (NFL) andWorld Football League (WFL). He played for theSan Francisco 49ers from1969 to1974 and theOakland Raiders from1975 to1977. In 1975, he also played with the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League. He was an All Pro once, three times selected to the Pro Bowl, was All American at Penn State, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
Kwalick was born inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 15, 1947, to Thaddeus and Rose Kwalick, and grew up inMcKees Rock, Pennsylvania, just a few miles from Pittsburgh. He playedhigh school football atMontour High School for coach Bob Phillips.[1][2][3] He was a three-letter athlete, a high schoolAll American in football, and was named All-State. He was the Western Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Athletic League’s most valuable player in an all-star game against a Texas team, catching 9 passes and scoring his team's only touchdown.[1]
Kwalik attendedPennsylvania State University (Penn State), playingtight end three years for the Nittany Lions. He was Penn State's first two-time All-American, making first team All America in 1967 and then being named a unanimous All American in 1968. He was also fourth in voting for theHeisman Trophy in 1968.[1][3][4]
Over his Penn State career, Kwalick caught 86 passes for 1,343 yards and 10 touchdowns, setting school tight end records for yards and touchdowns. He ran 4.6 in the 40-yard dash.[5] He averaged 17.1 yards per catch in 1966 and 1967, and 13 yards per catch in 1968. In 1967, he caught 33 passes for 563 yards and four touchdowns, but 17 receptions came in the first two games, after which he was double and triple teamed by opponents.[5]
His longest catch went for 89 yards against theUniversity of Miami Hurricanes in 1968, a year in which he also rushed for 96 yards on 14end-around attempts with one touchdown. He was rated the top college tight end in the country his senior year. The Nittany Lions were 11–0 in the 1968 season, winning the1969 Orange Bowl 15–14 over the University of Kansas.[6] Penn State coachJoe Paterno said of Kwalick, "'He's what God had in mind when he made a football player.'"[1][3][4][5][7][8]
Kwalick was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1989.[3]
Kwalick was selected by theSan Francisco 49ers in the first round (seventh overall) of the1969 NFL/AFL draft.[1] He was 6 ft 4 in tall and 225 pounds.[3] He made the Pro Bowl from 1971 through 1973, years in which he had 52 (second in the NFC), 40 and 47 catches respectively. He was First TeamAll Pro in 1972, scoring 9 touchdowns, with an 18.8 yards per catch average. The 49ers won their division each of those years, losing in the NFC Championship Game in 1970 and 1971.[1][9] From 1969 to 1974 with the 49ers he had 164 receptions for 2,555 yards and 23 touchdowns.[9]
In 1975, Kwalick joined thePhiladelphia Bell of theWorld Football League (WFL), which formed a year earlier. The WFL failed in 1975, and Kwalick then joined theOakland Raiders, playing there for three years until 1977, when he retired from professional football. Kwalick was a member of the team that wonSuper Bowl XI, but did not play because of injuries and emergency surgery mid-season.[1]
On October 10, 1971, Kwalik scored the first touchdown inCandlestick Park after it officially opened for NFL football, on a nine-yard pass fromJohn Brodie.[10] The 49ers had played atKezar Stadium since 1946, and moved toLevi's Stadium in 2014.[11]
In March 1974, he was selected byThe Hawaiians in the first round (11th overall) of theWFL Pro Draft.[citation needed] The Hawaiians had signed over 10 NFL players, including Kwalick andCalvin Hill, but traded Kwalick's right before he ever played for the team, and he joined the Philadelphia Bell in 1975. The WFL ceased games on October 22, 1975, without finishing its second season.[12] The Bell was coached by NFL hall of famerWillie Wood, the first black coach in modern professional football,[13] and had formerPhiladelphia Eagles playerBen Hawkins, who once led the NFL in receiving,[14][15] and had such colorful personalities asKing Corcorran[16] (who led the WFL in touchdowns in 1974) andTim Rossovich.[17]
Kwalick earned aBS inPhysical Education fromPenn State University in 1969, and was married to Carolyn Kwalick and the father of a baby girl by 1968.[5]
After retiring, Kwalick started ProTech Voltage Systems, Inc., inSanta Clara, California. He was both owner and president, retiring from the company in 2016.[9][18] He formed Tight End Sportswear, located in Santa Clara, marketing sports apparel and featuring shirts showing city skylines and great football players.[3][19][20]
He was inducted into theNational Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.[1]
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