Izzy 'Indian' Yablok
Yablok was a quarterback at Colgate University and played in the NFL in the early 1930s. Following his playing career, Yablok became the head football coach at St. Francis College in New York. Yablok also earned his law degree from St. John's University and went into partnership with Mickey Marcus, a fellow Boys High School (in Brooklyn) alumnus (Marcus was a World War II hero and advisor to the Israeli military during the War of Independence - he was also the country's first general -- for more information on Marcus, go to www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org).
Birth and Death Dates:
b. July 28, 1907 - d. August 15, 1983
Career Highlights:
An outstanding football player, Yablok led Boys High School to the Brooklyn city championship in 1925. In the title game, played in front of 20,000 at Ebbets Field, Yablok scored his team's first touchdown in a 13-0 victory over Manual Training. After his high school career, Yablok attended Colgate University and was an excellent quarterback in the late 1920s. After a combined record of 10-5-3 in 1927 and 1928, Izzy led Colgate to an 8-1-0 season in 1929. Their only loss was to Wisconsin (13-6) in the second game of the year. The Red Raiders allowed only six points the rest of the year, had seven shutouts on the season, and outscored their opponents by a total of 315-19. Yablok, who scored three touchdowns for Colgate that season, represented the East team in the 1930 East-West Shrine Game (the East won, 19-7).
In 1930, Yablok joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in the franchise's first year of existence in the NFL. Along with Wild Bill Kelly, Izzy was an important part of Brooklyn's passing attack. That season, the team finished a respectable fourth in the league with a record of 7-4-1, including a 7-6 victory over the New York Giants. The following season, however, the Dodgers went into a nosedive, ending the year with a 2-12 record and Yablok was sent to the Staten Island Stapletons. That was his final season in the NFL; he played in 20 career games.
Origin:
Brooklyn, New York
Career Dates:
Yablok played quarterback at Colgate University from 1927-1929. He then played blocking back and tailback in the NFL with the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1930-1931, and with the Staten Island Stapletons in 1931.
Physical description:
5'10", 172 pounds
Career Statistics:
In the NFL:
Games: 20
Passing touchdowns: 1