Joe Campanella
 Campanella on a 1952 Bowman football card | |||||||||
| No. 73 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Linebacker Defensive tackle | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | September 3, 1930 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | February 15, 1967 (aged 36) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Cathedral Latin (OH) | ||||||||
| College: | Ohio State | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1952 / Round: 3 / Pick: 36 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| As a player: | |||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| As an executive: | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||
| Executive profile at PFR | |||||||||
Joseph Arthur Campanella (September 3, 1930 – February 15, 1967) was an American professional football player and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Campanella played linebacker and defensive tackle for six seasons for the Dallas Texans and the Baltimore Colts. He later served as the general manager of the Baltimore Colts from 1966-1967.
Early life
[edit]Joe Campanella was born in Cleveland, Ohio on September 3, 1930. He attended Cathedral Latin School where he played football, ran track and field, and participated in Golden Gloves boxing.[1][2]
College career
[edit]Campanella played college football at Ohio State, where he played tackle. Campanella's time with Ohio State was cut short by military service. Campanella joined the U.S. Air Force and was stationed at nearby Lockbourne Air Force Base while continuing to attend classes at Ohio State. A military ruling disallowed airmen from playing sports while attending civilian schools, which led Campanella to forego his final two years of college eligibility to enter the NFL draft.[3][4]
Professional career
[edit]Campanella was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 1952 NFL draft as the 36th overall selection. He spent the 1952 offseason training with the Browns, but was traded to the Dallas Texans prior to the start of the season for quarterback George Ratterman.[5]
Campanella played with Dallas for the 1952 season, appearing in all 12 games with six starts.[6] Midway through the 1952 season, the Texans' owners sold the team back to the NFL who transformed the team into a traveling team.[7]
In 1953, Campanella and the other Texans players became part of the newly formed Baltimore Colts. Although the Colts were technically an expansion team, they retained the Texans' roster. Campanella played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1957, when he retired from football to pursue other business ventures.
Post-football career
[edit]Restaurateur
[edit]After retiring from professional football, Campanella, was encouraged by Baltimore Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom to pool his money with Alan Ameche and Louis Fischer, who was Campanella's classmate from Ohio State University, to invest in restaurants. The partners' first store, called "Ameche’s Drive-In" in Glen Burnie, Maryland, featured the Powerhouse and Kingfish sandwiches served with the Special "35" Sauce. The number of stores slowly grew beyond the flagship drive-in.
In the early 1960s Ameche, Fischer, and Campanella wanted to expand, and were able to convince future Pro Football Hall of Fame member Gino Marchetti to join their restaurant group. The newly-branded restaurants became Gino's Hamburgers.
Campanella left the group in 1963 and started his own restaurant, Rustler Steak House, and later sold it after opening five stores. He returned to Gino's with his original partners after less than a year.[8] The Rustler restaurants later changed hands when Marriott Corporation sold the chain to Tenly Enterprises in 1973. It was again sold in 1985 to Collins Foods.[9]
Broadcasting
[edit]Campanella served as the color commentator for television broadcasts of Baltimore Colts games during the 1966 season.[10]
NFL executive career
[edit]During the 1966 season, Batlimore Colts general manager Red Kellett announced his plans to retire at the end of the year. Colts' owner Carroll Rosenbloom appointed Campanella the team's vice president and general manager while Kellett completed the season, and was set to officially take his position in 1967. Campanella was close friends with then-Colts head coach Don Shula.
Death
[edit]Campanella died on February 15, 1967, at the age of 36, after collapsing during a handball game with Shula and Colts defensive line coach Bill Arnsparger. He was rushed to Maryland General Hospital where he was pronounced dead of a heart attack.[11]
Rosenbloom and the entire Colt organization were in shock. Shula tearfully remarked, "He was just a wonderful human being; one of my closest friends." Gino Marchetti was overcome with grief at Campanella's funeral, saying: "If I live to be 100, I will never meet a better friend. He showed me the right directions to go: in business, and spiritually by bringing me back to the church. He meant to me what air means to the body. If you want to know what a real man is like, well man, he was!"[12]
References
[edit]- ^ Dietrich, John (November 22, 1950). "Ohio Seeks First Victory Over Michigan in 4-Year Fesler Regime". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved August 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Henahan, John (April 1, 1948). "Latin and West Tech Lead 'A' Tracksters; Glenville on Top in 'B'". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved August 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Joe Campanella Finds It Hard To Make Grid Browns". The Evening Review. September 5, 1952. Retrieved August 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Air Force rules Campanella Can't Play With Bucks". The Coshocton Tribune. October 14, 1951. Retrieved August 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Joe Campanella Sent To Texans". Troy Daily News. UPI. September 19, 1952. Retrieved August 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Joe Campanella". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
- ^ "Dallas Texans, Pro Football Club, Folds". Rome News-Tribune. November 13, 1952. Retrieved August 1, 2024 – via Google News.
- ^ Patterson, Ted; Smith, Dean (September 30, 2013). Football in Baltimore: History and Memorabilia from Colts to Ravens. JHU Press. ISBN 9781421412368. Retrieved November 6, 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ Martin, Nina (October 1, 1984). "Rustler Steak Houses Polish Image to Round Up More Customers". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- ^ "Campanella Colts' New General Manager". The Evening Sun. November 21, 1966. Retrieved August 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Colt G.M. Campanella Dies at 36 Of Heart Attack". The Baltimore Sun. February 16, 1967. Retrieved August 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Witness Post: Joe Campanella". January 26, 2013.
- 1930 births
- 1967 deaths
- American football linebackers
- American football offensive tackles
- Baltimore Colts announcers
- Baltimore Colts executives
- Baltimore Colts players
- Dallas Texans (NFL) players
- National Football League announcers
- National Football League general managers
- Ohio State Buckeyes football players
- Players of American football from Cleveland
- Sportspeople from Cleveland
- Sports deaths in Maryland