John Banaszak is a former professional football player with the Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

 from 1975 to 1981. He is a three-time Super Bowl

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

 Champion. John was a starter at right defensive end

Defensive end

Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...

 for the Steelers in Super Bowls XIII and XIV. He later played in the USFL. Won the 1983 USFL Championship as a starting Defensive End for the Michigan Panthers

Michigan Panthers

The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s.-Team history:The Michigan Panthers were named as a charter member of the United States Football League on May 11, 1982....

. Played for Michigan in 1983 and 84, and 1985 for the Memphis Showboats

Memphis Showboats

The Memphis Showboats were a franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders...

.

After his football career, Banaszak went into coaching. He was the head coach of Washington & Jefferson College

Washington & Jefferson Presidents football

The Washington & Jefferson Presidents football team represents Washington & Jefferson College in collegiate level football. The team competes in NCAA Division III and is affiliated with the Presidents' Athletic Conference...

 football and baseball teams in late 1990s.

He is currently an assistant football coach under Joe Walton

Joe Walton

Joseph Frank Walton is an American football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of Robert Morris University. Walton played eight seasons in the National Football League and served as head coach of the New York Jets for seven seasons...

 at Robert Morris University

Robert Morris University

Robert Morris University is a private, coeducational university in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1921, the school was named for Robert Morris, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and helped finance the ensuing war with the British.-History:Robert Morris...

 in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

.

John Banaszak was hospitalized in Pittsburgh on April 23, 2009 in serious condition. It was first reported that he had suffered multiple aneurysm

Aneurysm

An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...

s. That was later found to be incorrect and he may have suffered from an overdose of aspirin

Aspirin

Aspirin , also known as acetylsalicylic acid , is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It was discovered by Arthur Eichengrun, a chemist with the German company Bayer...

which was being taken for neck pain.