Jack Rudnay
Encyclopedia
John Carl "Jack" Rudnay is a former professional American football
center
in the National Football League
. He played his entire 13 year career with the Kansas City Chiefs
A fourth-round draft choice in 1969
for the American Football League
's Kansas City Chiefs
, Rudnay missed the Chiefs' championship season
as a result of a back injury suffered in the College All-Star Game
following his senior year at Northwestern University
, where he had played both center and defensive tackle. While at Northwestern, Rudnay became a member of the Sigma Chi
fraternity
.
Though drafted to an AFL team, he never played in an American Football League game, his first season being 1970, after the Chiefs joined the NFL. He went on to play 144 straight games and 178 games in all with the Chiefs, the third most ever by a Kansas City offensive lineman, and was regarded as one of the finest centers in the National Football League
during the 1970s. He was the American Football Conference
's starting center in the Pro Bowl
following the 1973-1976 seasons. Rudnay wore jersey number 58.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. He played his entire 13 year career with the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
A fourth-round draft choice in 1969
1969 Kansas City Chiefs season
The 1969 Kansas City Chiefs season resulted in a 11–3 record and a 23–7 victory in Super Bowl IV over the NFL’s heavily-favored Minnesota Vikings. The team beat their rivals, the Oakland Raiders in the final AFL Championship Game, claiming their third AFL Championship in franchise history...
for the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
's Kansas City Chiefs
History of the Kansas City Chiefs
The following is a detailed history of the Kansas City Chiefs, a professional American football franchise that began play in 1960 as the Dallas Texans...
, Rudnay missed the Chiefs' championship season
Super Bowl IV
Super Bowl IV was the fourth AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, and the second one to officially bear the name "Super Bowl"...
as a result of a back injury suffered in the College All-Star Game
College All-Star Game
The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played annually from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year...
following his senior year at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, where he had played both center and defensive tackle. While at Northwestern, Rudnay became a member of the Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...
fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
.
Though drafted to an AFL team, he never played in an American Football League game, his first season being 1970, after the Chiefs joined the NFL. He went on to play 144 straight games and 178 games in all with the Chiefs, the third most ever by a Kansas City offensive lineman, and was regarded as one of the finest centers in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
during the 1970s. He was the American Football Conference
American Football Conference
The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....
's starting center in the Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
following the 1973-1976 seasons. Rudnay wore jersey number 58.