John Rokisky

John Stanley Rokisky ( – ) was an American professional football player who was an end and placekicker for three seasons with the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Rockets and New York Yankees of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). Rokisky grew up in West Virginia and played college football for the Duquesne Dukes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was a standout as an end and kicker. After a stint in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he joined the Browns in 1946. The Browns won the AAFC championship that year. Rokisky was sent to the Rockets in 1947 and to the Yankees the following year before leaving football.

Early life and college career Rokisky was the youngest child of Florian Rokisky and Apolonia (Faculak) Rokisky, Slovak immigrants from the town of Lipnica Wielka (now part of Southern Poland). One of nine children, Rokisky grew up in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He played football for Washington Irving High School in Clarksburg, and as an end and a placekicker at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania beginning in 1939, when he was a sophomore. He scored nine points that year in an upset of the University of Pittsburgh. After the 1941 season, he was named an All-American by Collier's. At the end of 1941, he played on an eastern all-star college football team, one of three all-star squads he made during college.

After he graduated from Duquesne, Rokisky joined the U.S. Navy in February 1942 and was attached to the Seebee's, a construction battalion. He did not sign with the team as he continued his military service. The Browns went on to win the AAFC championship.

Rokisky played in 1947 for the Chicago Rockets as a kicker, and moved in 1948 to the AAFC's New York Yankees before leaving professional football.

In his later years, Rokisky returned to West Virginia and was the owner of the Potomac Motel & Dining Room and Polish Pines Golf Course in Keyser, West Virginia. He died in Keyser, West Virginia in 1993 and is buried in Clarksburg, WV near his parents.