LeRoy Erwin "Ace" Gutowsky (August 2, 1909 – December 4, 1976) was a Russian-American professional American football fullback. He played professional football for eight years from 1932 to 1939 and set the NFL career rushing record in October 1939. He held the Detroit Lions' career and single-season rushing records until the 1960s. Early years Gutowsky was descended from ethnic German colonists in the Ukraine via Poland. His father, Assaph Gutowsky came to the USA with several of his brothers in 1909. He met and married Augusta Ludwig and they settled in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, where Gutowsky was born and raised. Gutowsky learned to play football in the sandlots of Kingfisher and became an outstanding athlete at Kingfisher High School. Pappy Waldorf recruited him to play football at Oklahoma City University. With Waldorf as coach and Gutowsky in the backfield, the Oklahoma City Goldbugs rose to success in football. Former teammate Leo Higbie recalled, "Lynn Waldorf got OCU's football program really going in 1927 when he brought the great Ace Gutowsky of Kingfisher to the school." With Gutowsky in the backfield, the Goldbugs lost only one game in the first two years of the 1930s. Professional football Gutowsky played eight years of professional football in the National Football League for the Portsmouth Spartans (1932–1933), Detroit Lions (1934–1938) and Brooklyn Dodgers (1939). At and , Gutowsky played principally at the fullback position. As a two-way player, Gutowsky's duties on defense were those which in modern football would be associated with a linebacker or defensive back. Playing for the Portsmouth Spartans in 1932, Gutowsky was tripped by coaching legend George Halas in a championship game against the Chicago Bears. With the Bears leading and four minutes left in the game, Gutowsky took a kickoff and began returning the ball along the sideline. Halas "stuck out his foot and tripped Gutowsky as he ran past with the ball." The officials didn't notice, but Portsmouth coach Potsy Clark "went off like a roman candle" and told Halas he was playing the game under protest. Halas reportedly responded by yelling, "Protest this," while "saluting Clark with a single finger." Gutowsky enjoyed his greatest success as a member of the Detroit Lions from 1934 to 1936. In 1934, he carried the ball 146 times for the Lions, the highest number of carries by any player during the 1934 NFL season. Gutowsky was also one of the leaders on