FOREVER A CLEVELAND BROWN - DANTE LAVELLI OBITUARY
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Dante Lavelli, Cleveland Browns Receiver Known as Gluefingers, Dies at 85
Dante Lavelli, a Hall of Fame receiver nicknamed Gluefingers who helped the Cleveland Browns build a football dynasty with seven championships in the 1940s and ’50s, died Tuesday in Cleveland. He was 85 and lived in Westlake, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb.
The Browns reported his death on the team’s Web site. No cause of death was given.
Lavelli was among the original players for the Browns, a once-powerful team that appeared in 10 consecutive championship games under the Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown beginning in 1946. The team won the title in every one of its four years in the All-America Football Conference and three times in the National Football League, which merged with the A.A.F.C. in 1950.
Lavelli was the favorite receiver of quarterback Otto Graham, another Brown in the Hall of Fame. In his 11 professional seasons, 1946 through 1956, Lavelli caught 386 passes for 6,488 yards (a 16.8 average) and 62 touchdowns. He was inducted into the Hall, in Canton, Ohio, in 1975.
According to the Browns, Brown and Bob Neal, the team’s first radio announcer, gave Lavelli his nickname. (He liked it and often used Gluefingers when signing autographs.) Brown, who also coached him at Ohio State, said of Lavelli: “He had the strongest hands I’ve ever seen. Nobody can take the ball away from him once he gets his hands on it.”
As a 6-foot, 191-pound rookie, Lavelli led the All-America conference in catches in 1946, and he caught the winning touchdown pass in the league’s first championship game that season, a 14-9 victory over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. In the Browns’ first season in the expanded N.F.L., Lavelli caught 11 passes in the championship game as the Browns defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 30-28. He also played in three Pro Bowls.
“Dante was a dedicated pattern runner, but once there was a hint things weren’t going right, he preferred to take off down the field and yell for the ball,” according to his Hall of Fame biography. “More than once, his penetrating voice provided a homing signal for Graham, and the combination clicked for a long touchdown.”
Dante Bert Joseph Lavelli was born Feb. 23, 1923, in Hudson, Ohio, near Akron, a son of Italian immigrants. As a quarterback he led the Hudson High School Explorers to three straight undefeated seasons and county championships.
Recruited by Brown at Ohio State, Lavelli was a halfback as a freshman and an end as a sophomore, a season cut short by injury. He soon left college to join the Army as an infantryman in World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
After the war he was signed by Brown to play for the new Browns. He eventually received a degree from Ohio State by attending classes part-time.
After his playing career, Lavelli was a scout for the Browns, and owned and ran a furniture business in Rocky River, Ohio, outside Cleveland. He was a founding member of the N.F.L. Alumni Association, which raises money for charities.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Joy; two daughters, Lucinda and Lisa; a son, Edward; and four grandchildren. A cousin, Tony Lavelli, was a star basketball player at Yale who later played in the N.B.A. for the Boston Celtics and the Knicks while achieving some renown as an accordionist.
While a member of the Browns, Lavelli and other teammates pressed for a pension plan and minimum pay standards, as well as meal money on road trips and uniforms that they did not have to pay for themselves. Changes like those were eventually instituted through the N.F.L. players union, founded in 1956, the year Lavelli retired.
Before then, players dared not object to work conditions, he once told the Web site ClevelandSeniors.com. “We were all competing for spots on about 12 teams, so you didn’t say boo,” he said. “You were fighting for positions. You did what you were told and toed the line.”
Dante Lavelli, a Hall of Fame receiver nicknamed Gluefingers who helped the Cleveland Browns build a football dynasty with seven championships in the 1940s and ’50s, died Tuesday in Cleveland. He was 85 and lived in Westlake, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb.
The Browns reported his death on the team’s Web site. No cause of death was given.
Lavelli was among the original players for the Browns, a once-powerful team that appeared in 10 consecutive championship games under the Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown beginning in 1946. The team won the title in every one of its four years in the All-America Football Conference and three times in the National Football League, which merged with the A.A.F.C. in 1950.
Lavelli was the favorite receiver of quarterback Otto Graham, another Brown in the Hall of Fame. In his 11 professional seasons, 1946 through 1956, Lavelli caught 386 passes for 6,488 yards (a 16.8 average) and 62 touchdowns. He was inducted into the Hall, in Canton, Ohio, in 1975.
According to the Browns, Brown and Bob Neal, the team’s first radio announcer, gave Lavelli his nickname. (He liked it and often used Gluefingers when signing autographs.) Brown, who also coached him at Ohio State, said of Lavelli: “He had the strongest hands I’ve ever seen. Nobody can take the ball away from him once he gets his hands on it.”
As a 6-foot, 191-pound rookie, Lavelli led the All-America conference in catches in 1946, and he caught the winning touchdown pass in the league’s first championship game that season, a 14-9 victory over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. In the Browns’ first season in the expanded N.F.L., Lavelli caught 11 passes in the championship game as the Browns defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 30-28. He also played in three Pro Bowls.
“Dante was a dedicated pattern runner, but once there was a hint things weren’t going right, he preferred to take off down the field and yell for the ball,” according to his Hall of Fame biography. “More than once, his penetrating voice provided a homing signal for Graham, and the combination clicked for a long touchdown.”
Dante Bert Joseph Lavelli was born Feb. 23, 1923, in Hudson, Ohio, near Akron, a son of Italian immigrants. As a quarterback he led the Hudson High School Explorers to three straight undefeated seasons and county championships.
Recruited by Brown at Ohio State, Lavelli was a halfback as a freshman and an end as a sophomore, a season cut short by injury. He soon left college to join the Army as an infantryman in World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
After the war he was signed by Brown to play for the new Browns. He eventually received a degree from Ohio State by attending classes part-time.
After his playing career, Lavelli was a scout for the Browns, and owned and ran a furniture business in Rocky River, Ohio, outside Cleveland. He was a founding member of the N.F.L. Alumni Association, which raises money for charities.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Joy; two daughters, Lucinda and Lisa; a son, Edward; and four grandchildren. A cousin, Tony Lavelli, was a star basketball player at Yale who later played in the N.B.A. for the Boston Celtics and the Knicks while achieving some renown as an accordionist.
While a member of the Browns, Lavelli and other teammates pressed for a pension plan and minimum pay standards, as well as meal money on road trips and uniforms that they did not have to pay for themselves. Changes like those were eventually instituted through the N.F.L. players union, founded in 1956, the year Lavelli retired.
Before then, players dared not object to work conditions, he once told the Web site ClevelandSeniors.com. “We were all competing for spots on about 12 teams, so you didn’t say boo,” he said. “You were fighting for positions. You did what you were told and toed the line.”
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I met him at several different autograph appearances over the years - always a great guest. Very nice guy. Seemed very proud of his HOF status as he wore his HOF jacket to a couple fo the signings - very cool.
Andrew