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Joe Skladany

End

Inducted 1975

Date of Birth

5/25/1911

Birthplace

Larksville, PA

School

University of Pittsburgh (1931-1933)

Bio

As a senior in 1933, Joe Skladany helped hold Pitt opponents to a net minus six yards around his right end as he plunged into the opposition with an unusually strong leg drive which sent them reeling backward. During his three varsity seasons, Pitt rolled to a 24-3-2 tally. He is credited as being the one of the first players who most helped coach Jock Sutherland build a winning tradition at Pitt. In 1931, the Panthers were 8-1-0, losing only to Notre Dame, 25-12. The next season, the Panthers raced to an 8-0-2 mark before losing to Southern California in the Rose Bowl, 35-0. The Panthers were determined to erase that bowl defeat from their minds as they entered the 1933 campaign, Skladany's last at Pitt. The nine-game season was marred only by a loss to national power Minnesota, 7-3, and the Gophers had managed to score one of only two touchdowns the Panther defense surrendered that year (Navy scored the other TD). Skladany was a consensus All-America choice in each of his two final campaigns.