![]() Ameche c. 1960 | |||||||||||||
No. 35 | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position: | Fullback | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born: | Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S. | June 1, 1933||||||||||||
Died: | August 8, 1988 55) Houston, Texas, U.S. | (aged||||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||
Weight: | 218 lb (99 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school: | Bradford (Kenosha, Wisconsin) | ||||||||||||
College: | Wisconsin (1951–1954) | ||||||||||||
NFL draft: | 1955 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||||
Alan Ameche ( /əˈmiːtʃi/ ; June 1, 1933 – August 8, 1988), nicknamed "the Iron Horse", or simply "the Horse", was an American football fullback who played for six seasons with the Baltimore Colts in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers and won the Heisman Trophy during his senior season in 1954. He was elected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons in the league. He is often remembered for scoring the winning touchdown in overtime in the 1958 NFL Championship Game against the New York Giants, labeled "The Greatest Game Ever Played". [1] [2]
With colleague and former Colts teammate Gino Marchetti, Ameche founded the Gino's Hamburgers chain. [3] He also founded the Baltimore-based Ameche's Drive-in restaurants.
Ameche was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as Lino Dante Amici to Italian immigrant parents who came to the United States in the late 1920s, although they returned for a year to Italy during his childhood. The family then returned to Kenosha, where he attended Bradford High School. Ameche was a cousin of actor brothers Don and Jim Ameche. [4]
Ameche earned unanimous All-America honors at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he played linebacker as well as fullback in single-platoon days. In four years as a Badger, he gained 3,212 yards, then the NCAA record, scored 25 touchdowns, and averaged 4.8 yards per carry. He played in the program's first bowl game, the 1953 Rose Bowl, as a sophomore, rushing for 133 yards on 28 carries. Ameche won the Heisman Trophy in 1954, the first for the Badger program. [5] [6] [7]
Ameche is one of six Wisconsin football players to have a number retired by the program (35) and enshrined on the Camp Randall Stadium façade as of 2008: fellow Heisman winner and current career rushing record holder Ron Dayne (33), Elroy Hirsch (40), Dave Schreiner (80), Allan Schafer (83), and Pat Richter (88) are the others. Ameche was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1967, the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975, [5] and the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2004.
Ameche was the third overall selection of the 1955 NFL draft and played fullback for the Baltimore Colts from 1955 until 1960. Named NFL Rookie of the Year in 1955, he was a four-time Pro Bowler (1955–58), and the only rookie named to the Associated Press All-Pro team in 1955. [8] Ameche averaged 4.2 yards per carry over his career, and held the record for most rushing yards in his first three NFL games (410) until Carnell "Cadillac" Williams broke the record by gaining 434 yards in 2005. [9]
Ameche may be best remembered for his role in the 1958 NFL Championship Game at Yankee Stadium, often cited as "The Greatest Game Ever Played." Ameche scored the winning touchdown for the Colts on a one-yard run with 6:45 left in overtime as the Colts beat the Giants, 23–17. It was his second touchdown of the day as he also scored a touchdown on a 2-yard run in the second quarter. [1] [2] His overtime touchdown was the last in championship history until Super Bowl LI in February 2017, when James White scored at 3:58 of overtime as the New England Patriots beat the Atlanta Falcons, 34–28.
Due to an Achilles tendon injury in December 1960, [10] [11] [12] Ameche finished a relatively short six-season NFL career with 4,045 rushing yards, 101 receptions for 733 yards and 44 touchdowns. He is one of only four players named to the National Football League 1950s All-Decade Team not elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The others are Joe Fortunato, Dick Barwegen and Bobby Walston. In 2015, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Ameche to the P.F.R.A. "Hall of Very Good" Class of 2015. [13]
Legend | |
---|---|
Won NFL Championship | |
Led the league | |
Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | Fumbles | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Y/G | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Fum | FR | ||
1955 | BAL | 12 | 12 | 213 | 961 | 4.5 | 80.1 | 79 | 9 | 27 | 141 | 5.2 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
1956 | BAL | 12 | 12 | 178 | 858 | 4.8 | 71.5 | 43 | 8 | 26 | 189 | 7.3 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
1957 | BAL | 12 | 12 | 144 | 493 | 3.4 | 41.1 | 49 | 5 | 15 | 137 | 9.1 | 40 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
1958 | BAL | 12 | 12 | 171 | 791 | 4.6 | 65.9 | 28 | 8 | 13 | 81 | 6.2 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
1959 | BAL | 12 | 11 | 178 | 679 | 3.8 | 56.6 | 26 | 7 | 13 | 129 | 9.9 | 30 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
1960 | BAL | 10 | 7 | 80 | 263 | 3.3 | 26.3 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 56 | 8.0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Career | 70 | 66 | 964 | 4,045 | 4.2 | 57.8 | 79 | 40 | 101 | 733 | 7.3 | 40 | 4 | 13 | 1 |
Ameche's Drive-in was a fast-food restaurant chain based in Baltimore, founded by Alan Ameche. [14] [15] Ameche's had five locations, all located in Baltimore or its suburbs:
The restaurants were known for "no charge" carry out service, signature "Powerhouse" hamburgers [16] ("A banquet on a bun"), akin to today's Big Mac or Whopper sandwiches, and "Cheerleader" sandwiches (hot ham and Swiss cheese with mustard) and their onion rings. [15] The Loch Raven and Taylor location was open during the Summer of 1960.[ who? ] There is a McDonald's on the location today. The restaurants were typical drive-ins, with car side order boxes. Orders were delivered by a carhop who attached a tray to the lowered window. The company trademark was a Big Boy-like football player (#35) running through the uprights carrying a hamburger.[ who? ] In addition, Ameche's secret sauce was sold in many local grocery stores. The company slogan was "Meetcha at Ameche's!" [15] Ameche's restaurants were informally known by many teenaged patrons as "UM-cheez."[ who? ]
Ameche had undergone triple bypass surgery at age 46 in 1979. [3] He died of a heart attack in 1988 at age 55 at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, a few days after undergoing another heart bypass surgery, under the care of Dr. Michael DeBakey. [17] [18] He is interred at Calvary Cemetery in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
John Constantine Unitas was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Colts. Nicknamed "Johnny U" and "the Golden Arm", Unitas was considered the prototype of the modern era marquee quarterback and is regarded as one of the greatest NFL players of all time.
John Albert Elway Jr. is an American former professional football quarterback who spent his entire 16-year career with the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Following his playing career, he then spent 11 years with the Broncos in various front office positions, eventually being promoted to general manager. Elway, along with former backup quarterback and head coach Gary Kubiak, are the only individuals to be associated with all three of the Broncos' Super Bowl wins.
Paul Vernon Hornung, nicknamed "the Golden Boy", was an American football halfback and kicker who played for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 to 1966.
Gino John Marchetti(Pronounced: Mar-KETT-i) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end and offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played in 1952 for the Dallas Texans and from 1953 to 1966 for the Baltimore Colts.
Glenn Woodward Davis was an American professional football halfback who played for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He is best known for his college football career for the Army Cadets from 1943 to 1946, where he was known as "Mr. Outside". He was named a consensus All-American once, named unanimous All-American twice, and in 1946 won the Heisman Trophy and was named Sporting News Player of the Year and Associated Press Athlete of the Year.
Fletcher Joseph Perry was an American football fullback who played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). He played for the San Francisco 49ers from 1948 to 1960, the Baltimore Colts from 1961 to 1962, and returned to the 49ers in 1963 for his final year in football. He was exceptionally fast, a trait uncommon for a fullback and one which earned him the nickname, "the Jet". The first African-American to be named the NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP), he became one of American football's first black stars.
Thomas Roland Matte(Pronounced: MAT-tee) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) in the 1960s and 1970s and earned a Super Bowl ring. He attended Shaw High School in East Cleveland and was an Eagle Scout. Matte was an All-American quarterback playing college football at Ohio State University.
The 1958 NFL Championship Game was the 26th NFL championship game, played on December 28 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. It was the first NFL playoff game to be decided in sudden death overtime. The Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants 23–17 in what soon became widely known as "the Greatest Game Ever Played". Its legendary status in the pantheon of historic NFL games was again confirmed by a nationwide poll of 66 media members in 2019, who voted it the best game in the league's first 100 years.
Robert Dean Boyd was an American professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). Boyd spent his entire nine-year career as a cornerback for the Baltimore Colts from 1960 to 1968. He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners.
Curtis Raymond Dickey is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons, spending most of his career with the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts before finishing his career with the Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Texas A&M University.
The 1966 Green Bay Packers season was their 48th season overall and their 46th in the National Football League (NFL). The defending NFL champions had a league-best regular season record of 12–2, led by eighth-year head coach Vince Lombardi and quarterback Bart Starr, in his eleventh NFL season.
Roosevelt Leaks Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns. A consensus All-American in 1973, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005. Leaks was the first black All-American player in University of Texas at Austin history and went on to play in the NFL for the Baltimore Colts and Buffalo Bills.
Richard Robert Volk is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts, New York Giants, and Miami Dolphins. He retired with 38 career interceptions and 13 fumble recoveries, and totaled 574 yards on interception returns and 548 yards on punt returns.
George Howard Shaw was an American football quarterback who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the rival American Football League (AFL). He was the first overall selection of the 1955 NFL draft by the Baltimore Colts, for whom he started 17 consecutive games.
Howard Ferguson Jr. was an American professional football player. He played as a fullback and halfback for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers and one season in the American Football League (AFL) with the Los Angeles Chargers. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
Andrew Vaughan Nelson is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants. He owns and runs a small BBQ establishment, Andy Nelson's Barbecue.
The 1958 Baltimore Colts season was the sixth season for the team in the National Football League. The Colts finished the 1958 season with a record of 9 wins and 3 losses to win their first Western Conference title. They won their first league title in the NFL championship game, which ended in overtime with a touchdown by fullback Alan Ameche.
Joseph Arthur Campanella 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.
James David Haluska was an American football quarterback who played for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). Selected in the 30th and final round of the 1954 NFL draft, he played in five games in the 1956 season, where he completed one of four passes for a total of eight yards.
Jonathan Taylor is an American football running back for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). Taylor played high school football at Salem High School, where he set a New Jersey state rushing yards record. He played three seasons of college football at Wisconsin, where he finished his college career as the sixth all-time rusher in the NCAA and became the first player in history to rush for more than 6,000 yards in any three-year span.