Bill Pritula

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American football player (1922–2006)

title: "Bill Pritula" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1922-births", "2006-deaths", "players-of-american-football-from-detroit", "american-football-offensive-tackles", "michigan-wolverines-football-players", "players-of-american-football-from-pittsburgh", "united-states-army-air-forces-personnel-of-world-war-ii"] description: "American football player (1922–2006)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Pritula" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American football player (1922–2006) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox gridiron football person"]

FieldValue
nameBill Pritula
imageBill Pritula.jpg
birth_date
birth_placePittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
death_date
death_placeAnn Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
PositionTackle
CollegeMichigan
playing_years11941–1942, 1946–1947
playing_team1Michigan
::

|name=Bill Pritula |image=Bill Pritula.jpg |birth_date= |birth_place=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |death_date= |death_place=Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. |Position=Tackle |College=Michigan |Awards= |Honors= |DatabaseFootball= |coaching_years1= |coaching_team1= |playing_years1=1941–1942, 1946–1947 |playing_team1=Michigan |career_highlights =

  • First-team All-Big Nine (1947) |CollegeHOF= |HOF=}} William Pritula (March 10, 1922 – January 24, 2006) was an American football player. He played college football as the starting right tackle for Fritz Crisler's Michigan Wolverines football teams in 1942, 1946, and 1947. He was one of Michigan's "Seven Oak Posts" line in 1942, made famous for their durability and two-way playing, and was also a key blocker for the 1947 offensive unit known as the "Mad Magicians."

Pritula was born in 1922 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but moved with his parents to Detroit as a child. His father, Ivan Prytula, immigrated from Austrian-Hungarian Empire in 1911. Pritula attended Chadsey High School in Detroit. Pritula started all ten games at right tackle for the 1942 team. With the roster depleted due to the war, Pritula was one of several 60-minute men on the 1942 team who played all ten games with little or no substitution. Pritula was the last of the "Seven Oak Posts" to play at Michigan.

Pritula missed three years at Michigan while serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps engineers during World War II. His service included 18 months in New Guinea and the Philippines. As a senior, he started nine of ten games at right tackle for the undefeated 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team. His final game for Michigan was the 1948 Rose Bowl in which Michigan defeated the USC Trojans, 49-0. During his three years as a starter at Michigan, the team compiled a record of 23-5-1 and were ranked No. 9, No. 6 and No. 1 in the AP Polls. He was also invited to play in the 1948 Chicago College All-Star Game against the Chicago Cardinals. Pritula was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity and Tau Beta Pi national engineering society at Michigan.

In June 1948, Pritula was hired as the line coach at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. After three years at Morningside, he was hired in 1951 as the line coach on Dutch Clark's staff at the University of Detroit.

Pritula was married in 1942 to Irene Szabla. They had five children: Joyce, Karen, William, Carrie, and Michael.

In 1952, Pritula joined General Motors as an engineer. He worked for GM's Hydra-Matic Division at Willow Run for 27 years. He received a master of arts degree from Michigan in 1967. He died in January 2006 in Ann Arbor.

References

References

  1. "1941 Football Roster". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library.
  2. "1942 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library.
  3. (September 21, 1942). "Pritula Newest Wolverine Find". The Battle Creek Enquirer and News.
  4. (November 7, 1942). "From Acorn To Oak Post: Bill Pritula's Play Places Him in Role of Sixty Minute Man". The Michigan Daily.
  5. Lyle E. Nelson. "Crisler's '42 Ironmen". College Football Historical Society Newsletter.
  6. Jim Cnockaert. (2004). "Michigan Where Have You Gone?". Sports Publishing LLC.
  7. (January 1, 1948). "Pritula's Last Game Ends Era Of Famed 'Seven Oak Posts'". The Michigan Daily.
  8. (November 15, 1946). "Ole Oak Post: Pritula in Wolverine Line After Three Year Absence". The Michigan Daily.
  9. "1946 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library.
  10. "1947 Football Team". University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library.
  11. (January 2, 1948). "Records Smashed in 49-to-0 Victory: Michigan, in Bid for National Honors, Gains 491 Yards and Sets Modern Scoring Record; Brieske Kicks 7 Points; Southern California Defense Futile Against Chappuis and Weisenburger". The New York Times.
  12. (November 25, 1947). "Four Wolverines, Three Illini Named on All-Conference Team". The New York Times.
  13. (June 15, 1948). "10 Michigan Gridders Bid To All-Star Tilt". St. Petersburg Times (AP story).
  14. 1947 Michiganensian, pp. 65 and 267.
  15. (June 28, 1948). "Sports in Short". The Milwaukee Journal.
  16. (March 28, 1951). "Pritula Rounds Out Football Staff at U-D". Detroit Free Press.
  17. (December 28, 1942). "Pritula, Star M Gridder, Is Married". Detroit Free Press.
  18. (November 25, 1997). "It'll be golden day for past, present Michigan gridders". The Argus-Pres.
  19. (January 29, 2006). "Death Notice". Detroit Free Press.

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1922-births2006-deathsplayers-of-american-football-from-detroitamerican-football-offensive-tacklesmichigan-wolverines-football-playersplayers-of-american-football-from-pittsburghunited-states-army-air-forces-personnel-of-world-war-ii