Born in 1916 in the small Pennsylvania mining town of Crucible, Filchock was a star player at Redstone Township High School and later at Indiana University.

[1] The Pirates' first first-round draft choice that year was Byron (Whizzer) White of Colorado, who later became a U.S. Supreme Court judge.

On October 15, 1939, Filchock threw the first 99-yard touchdown pass in NFL history, to Andy Farkas, in a game against his old team, the Pirates.

Not only did Mara end up exceeding his traditional salary ceiling, but he also agreed to the first multi-year contract in Giants' history.

In spite of a painful arm injury, Filchock had a good first year in New York, passing for 1,262 yards and 12 touchdowns.

His passing threat was what the Giants needed to make Owen's offense work, and Filchock led the team from a 3-6-1 record in 1945 to 7-3-1 and first place in the Eastern Conference in 1946.

Hours before game time, a story broke on radio that gamblers had attempted to fix the game—and that Filchock and another Giant back, Merle Hapes, were involved.

At 2 a.m. Sunday, only twelve hours before game time, the district attorney's office announced that Filchock and Hapes had been offered $2,500 each plus the profits from a $1,000 bet that Chicago would win by more than ten points.

Filchock played 50 minutes and was responsible for all of the Giants' scoring, throwing touchdown passes to Frank Liebel and Steve Filipowicz.

The same day Bell suspended both of the players, even though the judge in the Paris trial had found that "Frank Filchock was not an accomplice, and was in fact an unfortunate victim of circumstances."

Paris also claimed that Hapes was willing to throw the championship game and that Filchock considered the offer overnight before rejecting it.

It did not apply to the new All-America Football Conference, but they were not about to pick up a player banned by the senior league for gambling connections.

Both the Hamilton Tigers and the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (or Big Four) made offers.

Lew Hayman, then in the process of building his new Montreal franchise, the Alouettes, but who had been involved in football in eastern Canada for many years, said in 1946: In the days before the war, the players were paid off in the dark.

Immediately after Filchock's signing, the Canadian Rugby Union, an umbrella organization for all levels of football throughout the Dominion, rejected his application for a player's certificate without comment, and the IRFU voted three to one that he could not play for Hamilton.

Filchock's appearance in Big Four games had increased every team's attendance, but due to the lack of a gate-sharing program, the Tigers were able to benefit only up to the 12,000-seat capacity of their own stadium.

Since they were paying Filchock's salary — undoubtedly the highest in the league — the Tigers felt they should receive some of the benefits from increased attendance at other parks.

They were accepted and the Tigers, a team dating back to 1869 and a founding member of the Big Four in 1907, were forced to play in the ORFU.

Filchock left the Tigers and returned to the Big Four in 1949, with Lew Hayman's Montreal Alouettes, at a salary reported to be $20,000 for two years.

The Alouettes went 8–4 in the regular Big Four season, and then beat the ORFU champion Hamilton Tigers 40-0 for the Eastern Canadian title.

Hoping to end his NFL suspension, in July 1950 Filchock appeared at a hearing before Commissioner Bert Bell.

He was accompanied by Leo Dandurand, Alouettes' president, and the two presented testimonials from businessmen, clergymen and sportsmen lauding his conduct.

New York Mayor Bill O'Dwyer and Assistant District Attorney George Monaghan also urged Bell to lift Filchock's suspension.

[2] In his announcement he stated that Filchock "has at all times conducted himself in a manner reflecting the highest standards of sportsmanship... [and] has made a real contribution to the promotion and development of clean sports in Canada."

Jack Mara of the Giants (Filchock's previous NFL team) announced that he was "glad to hear that Frank has been reinstated... [but] we do not plan to make him an offer because we are stressing youth."

He retired as a player after that season, he continued to coach at Regina through 1957, compiling a regular-season record of 41-35-4 with the team but never making it to the Grey Cup.

He had also starred in high school, collegiate and service football, and had played minor league baseball with three teams.