Babe Dimancheff

Dimancheff attended George Washington Community High School, where he lettered in football, basketball and track. He was a captain of both the football and basketball teams. In 1940, he received the Dyer Medal Award for Best Character and Athlete in the City of Indianapolis. As a senior, he was named All-state and All-city in both football and basketball.

He moved on to play football at Butler University, where he played left halfback and was named the freshman team captain. In his second year he received All-Conference honors, before military service in World War II interrupted his college career.

He returned to play at Purdue University, starting at fullback during the 1943 and 1944 seasons. He starred in a powerful backfield, alongside Tony Butkovich. In 1943, he led the Boilermakers to a perfect season, the Big Ten Conference title and a #3 AP ranking. His senior season (1944) was his best year as he was selected as the team captain, named to the International News Service's All-American team, named All-Big Ten (1st team) and was selected as the Most Valuable Player in the Big 9 Conference. He played in the East–West Shrine Game in 1944.^[1]

In 2007, he was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. In 2009, he was inducted into the Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame.

Dimancheff was selected by the Boston Yanks in the third round (27th overall) of the 1944 NFL draft. He began his playing career in 1945 as a halfback.

In 1947, he played for the Chicago Cardinals and led them to win the NFL championship. The next year, he helped the team reach the NFL championship game again, where they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles. At one time he held the franchise records for Most Yardage Gained on Kickoff returns and Longest Kickoff return. He finished his career with the Chicago Bears in 1952.