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Ed Rutkowski

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American football player and politician (born 1941)

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Ed Rutkowski
4th Executive of Erie County
In office
1979–1987
Preceded byEdward Regan
Succeeded byDennis Gorski
Personal details
Born (1941-03-21) March 21, 1941 (age 83)
Kingston, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
American football player
American football career
No. 46, 40
Position:Wide receiver, Quarterback
Career information
College:Notre Dame
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Passing attempts:102
Passing completions:41
Completion percentage:40.2%
TD–INT:0–6
Passing yards:380
Passer rating:26.6
Return yards:3,015
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Edward John Anthony Rutkowski (born March 21, 1941) is an American former professional football player and politician. He played for the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League (AFL), earning AFL All-Star honors.

Rutkowski played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He was an AFL All-Star in 1965, playing for Buffalo as a wide receiver, defensive back, punt and kickoff return man and backup quarterback from 1963 to 1968. In a famous Topps football card mix-up, Rutkowski was shown on two Buffalo Bills' football cards, his own, and mistakenly on the card for Ray Abruzzese. Rutkowski finished his playing career with seven games as a backup quarterback with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in 1969.

From 1972-78 and again in 1990, Rutkowski served as a color commentator on the Bills' radio broadcasts. In 1979, he became the County Executive of Erie County, New York, succeeding Edward Regan, who stepped down to become New York State Comptroller. Rutkowski was elected to full terms in 1979 and 1983, following his one-year unexpired term, for a total of nine years in office. In 1987, Rutkowski was defeated for reelection by Assemblyman Dennis Gorski.

In 1995, Rutkowski was appointed by Governor George Pataki as deputy commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. In this post, he was charge of all state parks and recreations operations in Western New York, including Niagara Falls. He held the post for 12 years, until Pataki left office.

He was the fourth quarterback from a Buffalo professional football team to enter politics, following his teammate Jack Kemp, George Ratterman and Tommy Hughitt. Incidentally, both Kemp and Rutkowski were Republicans.

He is of Polish origin.

See also

References

  1. Polish Americans / Helena Znaniecka Lopata, Mary Patrice Erdmans, p 140.
Sporting positions
Preceded byDick Rifenburg and Ralph Hubbell Buffalo Bills color commentator
1971–1977 		Succeeded byStan Barron
Political offices
Preceded byEdward Regan Erie County, New York County Executive
1979 – 1987 		Succeeded byDennis Gorski
Buffalo Bills starting quarterbacks
Buffalo Bills 1964 AFL champions
Buffalo Bills 1965 AFL champions
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