At age eight, he moved with his family to Shinnston, West Virginia,[4] where his father was a coal miner, and Stydahar also worked in the mines in his youth.

[5] At Shinnston High School, he was regarded as "the greatest schoolboy football and basketball player ever turned out in West Virginia".

He initially went to Pittsburgh in the fall of 1931 and participated in the football team's preliminary practices, but then showed up at West Virginia seeking to enroll.

[6] According to one account, he returned home after tryouts at Pittsburgh and was taken in a car to Morgantown where he was hidden in a fraternity house by West Virginia football coach Greasy Neale "until Pitt gave up looking for him.

"[7] At West Virginia, Stydahar was six feet, four inches, weighed 220 pounds, possessed "one of the largest pairs of hands in the business", and played both basketball and football.

[8] During Stydahar's three years with the West Virginia football team, the Mountaineers compiled records of and 3–5–3, 6–4, and 3–4–2, and lost three consecutive seasons against Pittsburgh by a combined score of 72 to 12.

[8] In 1934, Stydahar was ignored by the major All-America selectors, though he reportedly received recognition on an All-American team selected by the players on the NFL's New York Giants.

"[8] Heisman Trophy winner Jay Berwanger said: "I played in two all-star games with him and thought he was the best tackle by far of that collegiate group.

The AP reported: The standout player of the 1937 national pro football league season wasn't Slingin' Sammy Baugh .

"[13] He was also ranked third among all NFL players in points received in the AP's 1939 All-Pro voting, trailing only Don Hutson and Dan Fortmann.

He served as a lieutenant and gunnery officer in the United States Navy on the USS Monterey light aircraft carrier.

After losing to the Cleveland Browns in the season opener, dissension between Stydahar and his backfield coach Hamp Pool became public.

[28] The Bears dropped to sixth place in the Western Division in 1964,[29] and Stydahar resigned from his position with the club at the end of the 1964 season in order devote his efforts to his work for a corrugated carton company.

[40] After being released by the Cardinals, Stydahar remained in the Chicago area where he had formed a cardboard box business with a partner.