Quarterback clinched USC’s Rose Bowl win
Rudy Bukich, a USC and NFL quarterback known as “Rif le Rudy” for his tremendous arm strength, died Monday in Del Mar of natural causes brought on by accelerated dementia, according to his son Andre Bukich.
Bukich was a backup quarterback for USC but was named the MVP of the 1953 Rose Bowl after leading the Trojans to a 7- 0 victory over Wisconsin. He went on to play 14 years in the NFL, winning a championship with the Chicago Bears in 1963 and earning All- Pro honors in 1965.
He is survived by his wife of 25 years, Patricia, as well as six children, nine grandchildren and one greatgranddaughter.
Born Randolph Andrew Bukich in St. Louis, Bukich was the youngest child and only son of Andre and Emma Bukich, who also had two daughters, Rose and Antoinette.
Bukich graduated from USC with an education degree in 1953 and went on to earn his master’s degree in education from Brigham Young University.
He also was a machine gun instructor in the Army from 1954 to 1956 and started a real estate development company after retiring from football.
Bukich’s greatest claim to fame was the way he threw the football.
He entered the 1953 Rose Bowl only after USC’s starting quarterback, Jim Sears, left after a leg injury. According to a 1997 Los Angeles Times account of the game, Bukich had been knocked down to the No. 3 quarterback spot for disciplinary reasons.
But with Sears’ injury, the Trojans turned to Bukich because of his experience. And he didn’t disap- point. His 22- yard touchdown pass to Al Carmichael was enough to provide the Pacific Coast Conference with its only Rose Bowl win over the Big Ten in a 12- year stretch.
Bukich was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2004.
His arm is considered to be one of the strongest ever in the NFL, according to his son Andre. In a 1966 Sports Illustrated interview, Bukich denied rumors he could throw the ball 100 yards.
But Carmichael said the rumors were true. “One day we asked Rudy how far he could throw the ball,” Carmichael told The Times in 1997. “He went into the end zone and ran up to the goal line like a javelin thrower. Well, it was incredible. That ball landed in the other end zone.”
Carmichael added: “Besides throwing so far, he threw so hard that we’d tell him to stop trying to knock us down.”