Alex Sarkisian

Alex Sarkisian

Personal information
Born:	July 13, 1922 (1922-07-13) Istanbul, Turkey
Died:	December 14, 2004(2004-12-14) (aged 82) East Chicago, Indiana, U.S.
Career information
College:	Northwestern
Position:	Center
NFL Draft:	1947 / Round: 11 / Pick: 91
College Football Hall of Fame

Alex Sarkisian, captain of the 1949 Northwestern Wildcat Rose Bowl champions.

Alex Sarkisian (July 13, 1922 – December 14, 2004) was an American football player of Armenian descent. Sarkisian was born in Constantinople, Turkey. Having entered the country through Ellis Island his family eventually settled in the steel mill area of Northwest Indiana where many immigrants settled. He excelled both academically and athletically while in high school and following graduation from high school he entered the United States Army and served as a Judo instructor. He later enrolled at Northwestern University and distinguished himself as both a Center and Linebacker. He played both sides of the ball as a center and linebacker and averaged over 57 minutes a game during his entire career at Northwestern University.

His junior year Sarkisian received many honors in the nation and was touted as a first team All-American for his upcoming senior year. His senior year Sarkisian was chosen to be the Northwestern Captain. His coach Robert Voigts remembered Sarkisian's great leadership with this story: "We were playing the eighth ranked Minnesota Gopher team with future Hall of Famers Leo Nomellini, Clayton Tonnemaker and Bud Grant and fell behind 16-0. Alex called the players together and said we were going to win!! We came back to beat a great Minnesota team 19-16." Coach Voigts went on to say, "Sarky was the finest leader he had ever seen and was the best player he ever coached."

His senior year Alex was chosen as an All-American on both offense and defense. He was chosen as a First Team All-American linebacker in 1948 and was chosen as the Second Team All-American center that same year. He was named All-American by the Associated Press, Central Press Association, International Press, The New York Sun, Newspaper Enterprise Association, The Sporting News, United Press and numerous other publications. He was voted First Team Big Nine by all publications and was described as "The Greatest Standout Of The Entire Eleven First Team Members" of The Big Nine by the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal newspaper. {Milwaukee Sentinel Journal November 22,1948} He was also chosen as the United States Armenian athlete of the year in 1948. Alex was also lauded in many magazines and publications ranging from The Sporting News to The Christian Science Monitor to The Football News.

Alex averaged 59 of 60 minutes played per game for the Wildcats in 1948. He was voted National Lineman of the week during both 1947 and 1948 seasons. In 1948 the Wildcats played numerous teams in the top 20 college rankings. Northwestern lost two games that year, one to Michigan the number one ranked team in the nation and the second on a late score by Notre Dame, the number 2 ranked team in the nation. In defeating the University of Illinois in the last game of the season, Northwestern secured a berth in the 1949 Rose Bowl.

As captain of the Northwestern Wildcats, he helped lead the Wildcats to their only Rose Bowl victory in 1949, by defeating the #4 ranked University of California Golden Bears 20-14 on January 1, 1949. In that Rose Bowl he spearheaded a great Northwestern comeback by stopping a California Golden Bear running back on a fourth and 1 deep in Northwestern territory late in the fourth quarter, and by initiating a direct snap from center to halfback Ed Tunniclif on a misdirection play that Tunnicliff scampered for 45 yards for the winning score with less than a minute to play in the Rose Bowl.

His teammate Johnny Miller, a sophomore halfback that season, credits Sarkisian's inspiring pep talk during the Ohio State game for helping him break two spectacular touchdown runs that snapped a 7-7 tie and produced a 21-7 victory. "Alex said, `Johnny, you have to do it. Do it with heart!'" Miller recalled. "Alex was a man's man. He was a great inspiration to that football team. We would not have gone the route we did without him." Sarkisian is the lone member of the 1949 team in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Alex was a member of the College All-Stars who played the World Champion Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field on August 22, in 1949. He was a high round draft choice of those same Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL as a sophomore in the 1947 NFL Draft and was also a high draft choice of the Cleveland Browns as a junior in the 1948 AAFC Draft. Paul Brown traded Alex's draft rights for New York's captain and two starters later after Alex's senior year at Northwestern.

Sarkisian was a member of the Armenian American Hall of Fame, Northwestern University Hall of Fame, The Indiana Football Hall of Fame and numerous local Halls of Fame. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998. He was married to Ann Buchakian of Detroit, Michigan and they had four children, three of whom graduated from Northwestern University.