“Red” Kowalczyk (2nd from the right) in a team picture with his basketball teammates and coach Bill Jennings (left) (Photo courtesy Westfield High School)
WESTFIELD – Westfield High School standout athlete, college football star, and former NFL player Walt “Red” Kowalczyk passed away on Wednesday November 7 at the age of 83.
Kowalczyk played professional football in an era far different than the league we know today. The NFL contained 12 teams that played a 12-game schedule. There was no Superbowl, the New England Patriots did not yet exist, and a playoff game was played in Yankee Stadium.
Walt Kowalczyk (left) stands with Coach Bill Jennings and teammate John Enko during a high school practice. (Photo courtesy Westfield High School)
He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles as the sixth overall pick in the 1958 draft. He played as a backup running back and defensive back for most of the 1958 and 1959 seasons before he was traded to the Detroit Lions and then to the Dallas Cowboys before the season began in 1960.
In Dallas, he had his best professional season with 50 rushes totaling 156 yards and one touchdown and 14 receptions with 143 yards and one touchdown according to Pro Football Reference.
His professional football career ended in 1961 after he had moved to the Oakland Raiders, who, at the time, played in a separate league from the NFL, called the AFL. He played just four games that season before he retired from the sport.
Kowalczyk’s yearbook picture from his senior year of high school (Photo courtesy Westfield High School)
Prior to his NFL career, Kowalczyk found success as a high school and college athlete as well. He was the starting halfback for three years at Michigan State University. His running abilities led the Michigan State Spartans to a victory over UCLA in the 1956 Rose Bowl. In 1957, he came in third place in voting for the Heisman Trophy, which is to date the best a Michigan State athlete has ever done.
Kowalczyk’s high school athletic resume is stunning if only for his range of athletic ability. He is described in his yearbook from his senior year as, “A letter man in any sport, a friendly fellow of fine report.”
The Harry Agganis sports award was given to Walt Kowalczyk for his standout athletic ability in high school. It is given to the best high school athlete in New England. (Photo courtesy Westfield High School)
According to the same yearbook from his senior year, he played football and baseball for four years, basketball for three years, and track in his junior year. He earned 13 letters total for his high school athletics, including four in football and baseball each.
Kowalczyk’s high school athletic prowess did not end with western Massachusetts. He was awarded the Harry Agganis Sports Award, which is given to the best overall high school athlete in New England.
In an article found with his yearbook, Kowalczyk is lauded by his high school coach Bill Jenkins. “Leading the Bomber attack was Walt Kowalczyk, outstanding halfback, playing his final season at Westfield High School,” the yearbook article states, “Walt, better known as Red, has been rated by Coach Jenkins as the best halfback he’s seen in 15 years.”
Red is survived by his wife Mary Lee, his son’s Thomas and his wife Hannah, Jeffrey and his wife Kristen, and Gregory Timm and his wife Janis, and his great-grandchildren Brittnay, Taylor, Lexi, Ryan and Austin.
Although his story ended in Michigan where he was a teacher after his NFL career ended, he began as an exceptional athlete in Westfield who set a standard for achievement in high school sports.
