Ted Petoskey

Frederick Lee "Ted" Petoskey (January 5, 1911 – November 30, 1996) was a three-sport athlete at the University of Michigan, a Major League Baseball player, a collegiate coach in three sports and an athletic director.

At the University of Michigan, Petoskey received eight varsity letters in three sports. In American football, he was a two-time All-American end for the undefeated Michigan Wolverines football teams that won back-to-back college football national championships in 1932 and 1933. He was also a guard and captain of Michigan's basketball team in the 1933–34 season. As a baseball player in 1934, Petoskey led the Big Ten Conference with a .452 batting average.

Petoskey played parts of the 1934 and 1935 Major League Baseball seasons as an outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds and played minor league baseball until 1944. Petoskey also served in a variety of collegiate coaching positions, including head coach of the University of South Carolina's basketball team (1935–1940), athletic director and football coach at Wofford College, and head baseball coach at the University of South Carolina (1940–42, 1948–56).

Petoskey was raised in St. Charles, Michigan and attended nearby Saginaw Eastern High School. On October 22, 1926, Petoskey became the first receiver in Michigan High School Athletic Association history to garner five receiving touchdowns in a high school football game. As of August 2002, the record had not been surpassed.

While playing for Saginaw, Petoskey was an all-state end two years and an all-state fullback another. He once played in a game with University of Michigan head coach Fielding H. Yost in the stands. Petoskey ran back the opening kickoff for 87 yards and a touchdown and, after hearing that Yost was in the stands, ran back another kickoff in the second half for 92 yards and a touchdown.

Petoskey was a three-sport player for the Michigan Wolverines. While enrolled at Michigan, he earned eight varsity letters—three in football, three in baseball and two in basketball.

In Petoskey's three years as a varsity football player, the Wolverines had a combined record of 23–1–2 and won two national championships. As a sophomore in 1931, Petoskey was touted as "a second Bennie Oosterbaan," and earned a spot on the United Press All-Big Ten Conference second team.

In his junior year, Petoskey was one of the favorite pass receivers for quarterback Harry Newman, who won the Douglas Fairbanks trophy as the Most Valuable Player in college football. Coach Harry Kipke shifted Petoskey to fullback midway through the 1932 season, and he scored two touchdowns in a 32–0 win over Illinois. The United Press noted: "A running attack which featured Ted Petoskey, converted from an end to a fullback in the last week by Coach Harry Kipke dovetailed nicely with the Wolverine aerial play to produce the touchdowns. With Petoskey plunging the line and sweeping inside the ends for many sizeable gains, the Michigan eleven showed power through the line for the first time this season." An Associated Press writer warned opponents to watch out for Petoskey: "It is about time for grid foeman to wake up when Ted Petoskey, end and fullback on the University of Michigan football team, gets to dreaming. Petoskey's dreams have a habit of coming true, and happily for Petoskey, most of his dreams are good ones."