ND Frosh fullbacks 1944

John Tillitski was part of an interesting group of ND Frosh fullbacks in 1944:

Tilllittski went off to war and played at Georgia after military service…starting FB on Coach Wally Butts SEC champs

Other 1944 ND Frosh fullbacks:

Eddie Price was the La. state HS POY….drafted off the ND campus weeks after arriving…went to Tulane after the war….Alll SEc FB 3 straight yr….though Price lost to ND twice….1st player ever to rush for 3,000 yards in a career in college football history……led the NFL in rushing once and finished 2nd another yr before blowing out his knee….member of the College Football HOF

John Corbiiero Medford Ma, actually got to play as a Frosh at ND in 44….Frosh were eligible due to the war….entered the army soon after and fought on Okinawa…..enrolled at Middlebury College after service….3 sport star….set rushing records in football….great hockey and baseball player….made the 1952 Olympic hockey team (per his Middlebury HOF bio) but signed to play MLB as a catcher with the Braves…….soon quit to re-enter the military….. Air Force…..made it a career and flew 106 combat missions in Vietnam!

Marty Wendell Chicago St George. a HS QBs led his team to the Chicago City Championhip over Phillips with star Buddy Young…..Chicago St George then played vs Mt St Michael’s Bronx in the Polo Grounds for the’Catholic National Champioship…..the largest crowd to ever see a HS game in NYC history in attendance. IIRC St George won by 1 or 2 pts with St Michales on the 2 yd line when the game ended

Went off to Great Lakes Naval after his Frosh yr at ND - moved from HS QBs to fullback as a Frosh at ND………..starred at LB in Sailors victory over ND in 45…it was the last game ND lost in the decade of the 1940s

back to ND after the war, played C and G on offense(moved from fb) and LB on defense on 2 National Chapionship Irish squads……Coach Leahy once said that Marty Wendell was the best LB he ever coached!

Vince Scott Le Roy. Ny…..I don’t have my archives with me…Scott may have come in ‘43……Scott was 4f for the military draft due to the fact that one leg was shorter than hos other from childhood polo. Scott graduated from ND…playing 4 yra and played 13 years in the CFL…making All Pro and playing in 6 Gray Cups…..a member of the CFL HOF

A pretty good group of fullbacks