Golembiewski jumped from Fayette County to major college football
Back in the day Fayette County was a fertile recruiting ground for college football teams. One product of that pipeline was former Brownsville High School stalwart Ted Golembiewski.
Brownsville and Redstone merged in 1966, and Golembiewski, who would have played at Redstone, was a sophomore when the two bitter rivals merged.
鈥淭he animosity was among the older people,鈥� Golembiewski recalled. 鈥淚t was the adults, the players got along well. In my three years I can鈥檛 remember one problem.鈥�
Golembiewski played two years for Jack Henck and played his senior season for coach Chuck Abramski.
鈥淗enck was a great track coach,鈥� Golembiewski said. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 think he was a great football coach. He was real old school and I thought a little behind the times. I enjoyed playing for Abramski. His practices were great and I thought he prepared us well. He was a good football coach.鈥�
Golembiewski played on Falcon squads that posted records of 1-9, 1-7 in the Big Nine, in 1966, 3-7, 3-5 in the Big Nine, in 1967 and 4-5-1, 3-4-1, in the Big Ten in 1968.
鈥淚 took over at quarterback the third game of my sophomore season,鈥� Golembiewski stated. 鈥淚 got in at the end of the Thomas Jefferson game and then they started me against Connellsville when Jim Braxton was playing for Connellsville. They just needed to make a change, and I was inserted in the quarterback spot.鈥�
Golembieski grew into the position. He had two touchdown passes in 1966. He ran for two touchdowns and tossed three touchdown passes in 1967, and had an outstanding senior campaign in 1968, with three touchdown runs, including a 97-yard run in a 14-13 win over Uniontown. He had seven scoring passes. Golembiewski completed 57 passes in 100 attempts for 1,148 yards in 1968. He rushed for 654 yards.
鈥淲e had some good talent on those teams,鈥� Golembiewski offered. 鈥淏ernie Rosiek was an All-State tight end and we had Syl Durant. I rolled out and scrambled. I did what was needed. I could throw and I was a good runner.鈥�
Golembiewski was honorable mention All-State his senior season and was nominated for the Big 33 game. He also garnered All-Fayette County honors.
Baseball was another sport that Golembieski excelled in.
鈥淎s a freshman at Redstone I played for Paul Polink and also one year at Brownsville,鈥� Golembieski offered. 鈥淭hen I played two years for Mel Ujchick at Brownsville. We had some good baseball players like Ed Gmutza. I caught, played center field and I also played third base. I liked baseball, it鈥檚 just that it was the wrong time of year. Winter you are stuck in the house, summertime comes you don鈥檛 want to play legion ball, you just want to relax before you go back to school.鈥�
When Golembiewski graduated from Brownsville in 1969 he was courted by many colleges offering a football scholarship.
鈥淚 was recruited all over, every weekend I was going somewhere,鈥� Golembiewski explained. 鈥淚n the Big Ten alone I was recruited by Ohio State, Michigan State, Minnesota and Purdue. I just really liked Purdue, the facilities were all new and the stadium was nice.鈥�
Golembiewski played freshman football for the Boilermakers in 1969.
鈥淚 never had a chance to play for the old coach Jack Mollenkopf,鈥� Golembiewski said. 鈥淏ob DeMoss replaced Mollenkopf in 1969. Our freshman team was the first frosh team in years to beat the varsity.鈥�
In a scrimmage against the Boilermaker varsity, Golembiewski was 7-of-10 through the air for 80 yards, and rushed for 27 yards on two carries.
鈥淲e played our third frosh game against Illinois and I hurt my knee,鈥� Golembieski remembered. 鈥淭he knee injury kept me out of spring practice. When I came back in the fall I challenged for the quarterback job. They named me third-string quarterback and I said I鈥檓 going home. After I got home, my dad said we are going down to West Virginia and I enrolled.鈥�
In Morgantown, Golembieski had his moments in scrimmages after sitting put in 1970. In 1971, he tossed a one-yard touchdown pass to Chris Potts and had a 48-yard scoring toss to Mike Nelson.
鈥淚 was running second team behind Bernie Galiffa,鈥� Golembieski said. 鈥淚 just lost the desire to play and they had the old stadium with Astroturf and in the morning when I would get up to go to class I could hardly walk. My ankles felt like they were locked and my knees hurt. I didn鈥檛 want to play anymore. I lost the desire and that was it.鈥�
Golembiewski returned home to work for his dad鈥檚 trucking business. Then, he worked for another trucking company near the Meadowlands. He then was in the trucking business hauling coal. He ended up in Cleveland working for Stouffer鈥檚 frozen foods for 10 years. He then worked for Whirlpool and delivery products by truck. In 2006, Golembieski suffered a massive stroke while visiting a daughter in Arizona. He later moved to Arizona.
鈥淚 am paralyzed on my left side,鈥� Golembieski stated. 鈥淚 have been disabled since 2006.鈥�
Golembiewski, 64, resides in Peoria, Arizona, with his wife of 42 years, Patricia. They have three children. Two daughters, Kristen and Joey, and a son, Teddy. They have three grandsons.
鈥淵ou regret a lot of things you didn鈥檛 do,鈥� Golembiewski said. 鈥淏ut I had a good time growing up and we made the best of it. One thing I did enjoy playing was softball in the Fayette County Travel League at Coolspring. I played with my two brothers and four Dvorchaks, that was a lot of fun.鈥�
George Von Benko鈥檚 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the Monday editions of the 缅北禁地. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.