Ed Danowski, a Riverhead High School star athlete, who went on to lead the New York Giants to two National Football League titles in the 1930s will be inducted into the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame this summer.
Danowski was “one of the most successful three-sport athletes in Long Island high school sports history,” the organization said in a press release announcing this year’s inductees.
From 1927-30 Danowski earned All-County honors while competing in football, basketball and baseball at Riverhead — a rare honor during that era.
He continued a football career at Fordham University where he was team captain his senior year in 1933 and selected as an NCAA All-American in 1932 and 1933.
After graduation, Danowski was drafted by the New York Giants football team as a quarterback and halfback. His career in the NFL lasted seven seasons. He was the first New York Giants quarterback to win two NFL championships and from 1935-38, he was in the top five in nearly all NFL passing categories for four straight seasons. He led the NFL in passing yards, passing touchdowns and total offense in 1935.
After retirement from the NFL in 1942, Danowski enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served through 1945, earning the rank of lieutenant commander.
Following his service, Danowski returned to his alma mater as the head football coach at Fordham for nine seasons. The Jamesport native then worked as a coach and teacher in the East Meadow, school district until his retirement in 1977. He died in 1997 at age 85.
Danowski was a member of the inaugural class of the Long Island Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. He was also inducted into the Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame and Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame.
He is one of six men selected for induction into the NYSPHSAA Hall of Fame this year. The 2017 class includes another Long Islander, Northport High School girls basketball coach Richard Castellano, who over four decades had racked up 613 wins (top five in NYS), 21 League titles, 10 County Championships, five Long Island Championships, and made the NYSPHSAA State Semifinals three times, according to the NYSPHSAA press release.
The NYSPHSAA Hall of Fame was launched in 2002.
The 2017 NYSPHSAA Hall of Fame Class will be inducted on Wednesday, July 26 at 6 p.m. at 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel in Clayton, New York. Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet are on sale to the public and may be purchased by calling Sandy Schanck at the NYSPHSAA Office, 518-690-0771, or by emailing sschanck@nysphsaa.org.
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