Stan Kostka
American football player and coach (1912–1997)
title: "Stan Kostka" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1912-births", "1997-deaths", "american-football-fullbacks", "american-football-linebackers", "brooklyn-dodgers-(nfl)-players", "minnesota-golden-gophers-football-players", "north-dakota-state-bison-baseball-coaches", "north-dakota-state-bison-football-coaches", "united-states-navy-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "united-states-navy-officers", "sportspeople-from-saint-paul,-minnesota", "coaches-of-american-football-from-minnesota", "players-of-american-football-from-saint-paul,-minnesota"] description: "American football player and coach (1912–1997)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Kostka" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American football player and coach (1912–1997) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox NFL biography"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Stan Kostka |
| image | Stan Kostka 1935.jpg |
| caption | Kostka 1935 |
| number | 30 |
| position | Fullback |
| Linebacker | |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, U.S. |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Fargo, North Dakota, U.S. |
| height_ft | 6 |
| height_in | 0 |
| weight_lb | 225 |
| high_school | South St. Paul |
| (South St. Paul, Minnesota) | |
| college | Oregon (1931) |
| Minnesota (1932–1934) | |
| statlabel1 | Rushing yards |
| statvalue1 | 249 |
| statlabel2 | Rushing average |
| statvalue2 | 4.0 |
| statlabel3 | Receptions |
| statvalue3 | 1 |
| statlabel4 | Receiving yards |
| statvalue4 | 9 |
| pfr | K/KostSt20 |
| overall_record | |
| :: |
| name = Stan Kostka | image = Stan Kostka 1935.jpg | caption = Kostka 1935 | number = 30 | position = Fullback Linebacker | birth_date = | birth_place = Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Fargo, North Dakota, U.S. | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 0 | weight_lb = 225 | high_school = South St. Paul (South St. Paul, Minnesota) | college = Oregon (1931) Minnesota (1932–1934) | pastteams =
- Brooklyn Dodgers () | pastcoaching =
- North Dakota Agricultural/State (1941; 1946–1947) Head coach | highlights =
- National champion (1934)
- Second-team All-American (1934)
- Second-team All-Big Ten (1934) | statlabel1 = Rushing yards | statvalue1 = 249 | statlabel2 = Rushing average | statvalue2 = 4.0 | statlabel3 = Receptions | statvalue3 = 1 | statlabel4 = Receiving yards | statvalue4 = 9 | pfr = K/KostSt20 | overall_record =
Stanislaus Clarence Kostka (July 8, 1912 – February 3, 1997) was an American football player and coach. He played college football with the Oregon Webfoots for a season, then he transferred to the Minnesota Golden Gophers and was a member of the 1934 national champion team. Kostka played professionally in the National Football League for the Brooklyn Dodgers for a lone season in 1935. He served as the head football coach at North Dakota Agricultural College—now known as North Dakota State University—in 1941 and from 1946 to 1947, compiling a record of 8–17. He was also the head baseball coach at North Dakota Agricultural in 1947, tallying a mark of 5–3.
Kostka served as a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy during World War II.
Kostka, a squarely built 6-foot, 225-pounder who only played one year, received offers from the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Dodgers. He recalled that "a team would send me a wire and say they'd give me $3,500". He later said: "I'd send a wire back and say Green Bay or the Chicago Bears said they'd give me $4,000. I kept that up". Kostka eventually culminated the bargaining by signing a $5,000 contract, along with a $500 bonus, with Brooklyn. "That was a big deal then", said Kostka. "I think like Nagurski was in the league about three years and making $400 or less. Most of the guys were making $50 a ball game".
Head coaching record
Football
| name = North Dakota Agricultural Bison | conf = North Central Conference | startyear = 1941 | endyear = single | championship = | year = 1941 | name = North Dakota Agricultural | overall = 2–7 | conference = 2–4 | confstanding = 5th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no | name = North Dakota Agricultural/State Bison | conf = North Central Conference | startyear = 1946 | endyear = 1947 | championship = | year = 1946 | name = North Dakota Agricultural | overall = 5–3 | conference = 4–1 | confstanding = 2nd | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no | championship = | year = 1947 | name = North Dakota State | overall = 1–7 | conference = 0–5 | confstanding = 7th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no | name = North Dakota Agricultural | overall = 8–17 | confrecord = 6–10 | overall = 8–17 | bowls = no | poll = no | polltype = | legend = no
References
References
- (April 27, 2017). "The NFL Draft exists because of a Minnesota Football star".
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=uuY5_prqvS8C&dq=stan+kostka+world+war&pg=PT44 ''Stumbling on Wins in Football'']
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