Mike Kostiuk
Canadian gridiron football player (1919–2015)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael A. Kostiuk (August 1, 1919 – July 26, 2015) was a Canadian-born gridiron football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL).
Krydor, Saskatchewan, Canada
Sterling Heights, Michigan
| No. 28, 71 | |||||||
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| Position | Offensive tackle | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | August 1, 1919 Krydor, Saskatchewan, Canada | ||||||
| Died | July 26, 2015 (aged 95) Sterling Heights, Michigan | ||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||
| Listed weight | 212 lb (96 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school | Hamtramck (Hamtramck, MI) | ||||||
| College | Detroit Tech | ||||||
| NFL draft | 1941: undrafted | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Personal life
Kostiuk was born in Krydor, Saskatchewan, Canada, to Ukrainian parents.[1][2][3] He moved with his family to the United States when he was 5 and would grow up in Hamtramck, Michigan.[1] He died of heart failure in 2015 in Sterling Heights, Michigan.[1] He was the oldest living Detroit Lion when he died.[1]
Football
Kostiuk attended Hamtramck High School from 1934 to 1937, where he made All-City in 1935 and 1936, Detroit Tech from 1937 to 1940 on a football scholarship.[1] In 1939, he earned a position on the Little All-American Team. The players on this elite team were chosen from Class B colleges throughout the country. He left Detroit Tech in 1941 to play for the Cleveland Rams.[1] In 1942 he entered the United States Army and continued his football career there, making the Armed Forces All-Star team in 1943.[1]
After leaving the Army in 1945, he signed with the Detroit Lions. In 1946 he joined the Buffalo Bisons. He played a total of seven National Football League games with the Detroit Lions and two All-America Football Conference games with the Buffalo Bisons and one with the Cleveland Rams. On November 6, 1986, he was inducted into the Hamtramck High School Sports Hall of Fame.