Jim Brieske
| No. 56 | |
Brieske from 1948 Michiganensian
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| Date of birth | May 4, 1923 |
|---|---|
| Place of birth | Saginaw or Port Huron, Michigan |
| Date of death | November 29, 1968 (aged 45) |
| Place of death | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Placekicker, Center |
| College | Michigan |
| NFL draft | 1948 / Round: 12 / Pick: 97 |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1942, 1946–1947 | Michigan Wolverines |
James F. Brieske (May 4, 1923 – November 29, 1968) was an American football placekicker. He played college football for the University of Michigan in 1942, 1946 and 1947. He set Michigan, Rose Bowl, Big Ten Conference, and national collegiate placekicking records and was the second leading scorer on Michigan's undefeated 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team. For more than two decades, he held the Michigan records for most successful point after touchdown ("PAT") conversions in a career (107), season (52), and game (9). Brieske's college football career was interrupted by service in the United States Navy during the 1944 and 1945 football seasons. His kicking foot was amputated in 1967 due to cancer. He died the following year at age 45 following surgery to remove growths from his lungs.
Brieske was born in May 1923 at either Saginaw, or Port Huron, Michigan. His family moved to Harbor Beach in the Thumb of Michigan in the late 1920s. His father, Frank Brieske, was a Michigan native of German descent who, at the time of the 1930 United States Census, was working as an oil agent at Harbor Beach. His mother, Sadie Brieske, was a Michigan native of Polish descent. Brieske had an older sister Lorraine (born c. 1921), a younger sister Helen (born c. 1927), and a younger brother Kenneth (born c. 1929). Brieske was a backfield star for the Harbor Beach High School football team and graduated from the school in 1941.
Brieske enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1941. He played on the all-freshman football team that year. He played three years of varsity football for the Michigan Wolverines football team under head coach Fritz Crisler. Brieske graduated in 1947 with a B.S. in science and mathematics. After graduating in 1947, Brieske enrolled as a graduate student in Michigan's Business Administration School.
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