Jim Podoley

 

This has been an interesting summer thus far. I was able to hire two temporary students, Ashley Howard and Brandon Horn. As they were processing CMU Athletics student athlete files there was a folder titled Authorizations. We thought that was weird. We do not have any other Authorization folders in the collection which is 85 cubic feet processed boxes and counting. In the same box was the Jim Podoley folder, which we have been looking for in the collection for years. It was empty. We were quite sad. As Ashley was going through files she realized Podoley's materials were in the Authorizations folder. Finding his material is a very important because the man was a big deal. 

Jim Podoley was 1950s CMU football and track and field star. His football jersey number #62 is the only football jersey number CMU has ever retired. He was CMU's MVP for four consecutive seasons and held five different records at CMU. He was considered a one man track and field team. Podoley was also a five-time All-American. He is still CMU's all-time leader in touchdowns. He was the school's all time leading rusher, ranking among CMU's top-10 in rushing yardage, until 2008. Jim married his college sweetheart, Patricia. After CMU, Podoley played five seasons in the NFL with the Washington Redskins earning All-Pro honors as a rookie in 1957. He was in the inaugural class of CMU's Hall of Fame in 1984. Jim Podoley died at age 76 in 2010. (Some of this is from the online article CMU Remembers Jim Podoley https://cmuchippewas.com/news/2010/2/19/CMU_Remembers_Jim_Podoley.)

Sadly for me, Ashley's last day is today June 20, 2024. She got a FT job in her specific degree area, which is awesome. We are thrilled for her. Brandon was just accepted into grad school, which is also awesome. And we found Podoley at last, which is an amazing relief. Archives rock!