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1925–2012 · South Bend by birth and formation
Ernest Raymond Zalejski was born November 23, 1925, in South Bend, and at Washington High School he earned all-state honors three straight years, 1942 to 1944. At Notre Dame from 1946 to 1949 he played on teams that won thirty-nine games without a defeat and took three national championships — 1946, 1947 and 1949. Chicago drafted him in the fifth round of 1950, 62nd overall, and on September 9 of that year he was traded to Baltimore in the deal that also moved George Blanda; he played eleven games for the Colts in 1950, his one NFL season, and signed with Washington in 1951 without adding to the record. The honors at home were lasting: the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1984 and the South Bend Hall of Fame in 2004. He died in South Bend on August 5, 2012, in the city where every line of his record began.
Sources
- The standard player record — the South Bend birth and death, the Washington High School all-state years, the Notre Dame championships, the 1950 draft and trade and the eleven Colts games.
- Indiana Football Hall of Fame and South Bend Hall of Fame records — the inductions of 1984 and 2004.