Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1995
The records and statistics from John Polanski's career at Wake Forest are not as complete as those from other more recent eras, but those who knew him best, this was one tremendous football player.
Before coming to Wake Forest, Polanski was a three-sport start at Riverside High School in Buffalo, N.Y. In 1936, as the Most Valuable Player on the football team, he led Riverside to an undefeated season and the city championship. When notified that Polanski had been selected to the WFU Hall of Fame, the living members of that outstanding squad issued a tribute to their former teammate.
That tribute read in part, "We will sit a little straighter as we bask in the reflected warmth of this honor, and we will say that `Johnny, you have made the old gang at Riverside awfully proud.' "
Polanski gained additional notoriety during his three-year career at Wake Forest (1939-1941). After transferring from Cornell, he received national attention as a sophomore, leading the country in scoring with 91 points, and in rushing by gaining 882 yards on just 137 carries - 6.4 yards per rush. The Deacon standout was selected as a second-team All-American that year.
There is a single-game record that has existed on the Wake Forest record book now for 71 autumns. On November 30, 1939, Polanski scored 28 points in a victory over Davidson, scoring four touchdowns and kicking four extra points. No Deacon has ever matched that one-game achievement.
As a junior, Polanski again placed in the top 10 in the country for rushing in leading the Deacs to a second straight 7-3 season. Following his senior year, he played competitively while serving in the U.S. Navy, then enjoyed a brief professional career as a fullback with both the Detroit Lions of the NFL and Los Angeles Dons of the All-American Conference.
John Polanski passed away in Ann Arbor, Michigan on March 11, 1956 after living in the Detroit area for seven years. He was inducted into the Wake Forest University Sports Hall of Fame on February 25, 1995.
