Kowalkowski remembered as gentle giant

Early in big Bob Kowalkowski's football career at Arnold High School, he struggled and thought about giving up the sport.

But head coach Frank Martin and his staff intervened, and Kowalkowski ended up securing a scholarship to the University of Virginia and played for 12 years in the NFL, 11 with the Detroit Lions. A guard, he started every game between 1972-76, and remained in Michigan after his career ended.

Kowalkowski died Sept. 17 of prostate cancer at Henry Ford Hospital in West Bloomfield. He was 65.

"He wanted to drop out, he had a tough time keeping up with the rest of the players in cleats at our hard-surfaced field," Martin recalled. "We talked him into staying, and it paid off."

"He was tall, and kind of chubby at first, but he worked hard and started for us, beginning with his junior year," said former Arnold teammate John Coury, retired principal of Mars Area and Freeport Area high schools.

Scouts liked his big frame, and, after helping Arnold to an 8-2 season in 1960, he was on his way to Charlottesville.

"Colleges liked the tall guys and figured they could beef them up," Coury said. "He was red-shirted his first year at Virginia, then he really blossomed."

Kowalkowski, at 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds, was drafted in the seventh round by the Lions and started at left guard in 1966. He was switched to right guard in 1968, where he flourished.

Kowalkowski was traded to the Browns in 1977 and finished his career later that season with the Packers.

He was married to the former Judy Olivo, also an Arnold graduate. Judy has worked in the Lions' front office since 1990 and is the team's manager of accounting operations. Their son, Scott, played for Notre Dame and was signed by the Lions where he was a linebacker and special teams standout from 1994-2001. Daughter Robin owns her own business in Chicago.

Despite his living outside the area, he often returned to visit with Martin and former teammates, including Rich Polsinelli.

"We met in high school and have been friends since," said Polsinelli, a retired Penn Hills School District teacher. "I used his story as a success story for my students."

Polsinelli described Kowalkowski as a player who had never played football before tenth grade and how he barely finished a lap the first day of practice.

"After going to Virginia, he became a tiger, an aggressive football player," Polsinelli said. "He did all the rights things off the field. He was never a troublemaker, a drinker or a carouser."

Kowalkowski did a considerable amount of charitable work in the Detroit area following his retirement, particularly with the Leader Dogs for the Blind Program. The Kowalkowski Golf Open eventually became the Kolo Charities event, raising thousands of dollars for a variety of Michigan programs.

He grew up on Kipp Avenue in Lower Burrell and had a fondness for the outdoors, fishing and trapping in the Little Pucketa Creek area near his home. Before Burrell High School opened, students had the choice of attending either Arnold or New Kensington high school starting in tenth grade.

Kowalkowski's love of the outdoors eventually led him to start a hunting and fishing lodge in upstate Michigan.

"The entire Kowalkowski family means a great deal to our organization," said Lions president Tom Lewand. "Bob was a special leader on the field and off."

Kowalkowski was inducted into the A-K Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 1978.