Mike Kostiuk

Kostiuk was born in Krydor, Saskatchewan, Canada.[1][2] He grew up in Hamtramck, Michigan, United States, an enclave of Ukrainian immigrants in the Detroit area after his family moved from Canada when he was 5.[3] He died of heart failure in 2015 in Sterling Heights, Michigan.[3] He was the oldest living Detroit Lion when he died.[3]

Kostiuk attended Hamtramck High School from 1934–1937, where he made All-City in 1935 and 1936, Detroit Tech from 1937-1940 on a football scholarship.[3] In 1939, he earned a position on the Little All-American Team. The players on this elite team were chosen from Class B colleges throughout the country. He left Detroit Tech in 1941 to play for the Cleveland Rams.[3] In 1942 he entered the United States Army and continued his football career there, making the Armed Forces All-Star team in 1943.[3]

After leaving the Army in 1945, he signed with the Detroit Lions. In 1946 he joined the Buffalo Bisons. He played a total of seven National Football League games with the Detroit Lions and two All-America Football Conference games with the Buffalo Bisons and one with the Cleveland Rams. On November 6, 1986, he was inducted into the Hamtramck High School Sports Hall of Fame.