Pete Karpuk | |
Birth Date: | c. 1927 |
Birth Place: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Death Date: | March 4, 1985 (aged 58) |
Death Place: | Toronto, Ontario |
Import: | no |
Position1: | Halfback |
Position2: | End |
Height Ft: | 5 |
Height In: | 11 |
Weight Lb: | 175 |
Playing Years1: | -, |
Playing Team1: | Ottawa Rough Riders |
Playing Team2: | Hamilton Tiger-Cats |
Playing Years3: | - |
Playing Team3: | Montreal Alouettes |
Career Highlights: |
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Pete Karpuk (c. 1927 - March 4, 1985) was a Canadian football player who played for the Ottawa Rough Riders, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes.
In the last game of the 1951 Big Four regular season, Ulysses Curtis of the Toronto Argonauts had intercepted the ball and had a clear run for a touchdown when Karpuk rushed off the Ottawa Rough Riders bench to tackle him at the Ottawa 24-yard line.[1] After a 15-minute delay, the referee ruled that Toronto could not be awarded a touchdown or a new play at the 1-yard line, but would have to take their next play from the 12-yard line with a man advantage—a rule that Karpuk knew because he had discussed it in the past.[2] The tactic was afterwards called "a Karpuk" by at least one commentator when it was used again in American football.[3]
He won the Grey Cup with the Rough Riders that year.[4]
Ten years later he was broke and was sentenced to three months in jail after pleading guilty to stealing $110 from a store;[3] but the conviction was quashed on appeal.[5]
He died of a heart attack in 1985.[6]