Gino Marchetti

• Born: January 2, 1926
• Birthplace: Smithers, West Virginia
• Died: April 29, 2019
• Place of death: Paoli, Pennsylvannia

Sport: Football

Early Life

Gino John Marchetti was born on January 2, 1926, in Smithers, West Virginia, to Italian American parents. His father, Ernest, was an immigrant who owned a bar and grill called The Nevada Club. He had an unusually difficult childhood. When he was fourteen years old, the Americans entered World War II against Italy, Japan, and Germany. In the name of national security, all Japanese and Italian immigrants in the United States were sent to detention camps. This was especially hard on Marchetti because he considered himself a patriotic American. After four years behind barbed wire, he decided to prove his feelings for his adopted nation. He petitioned his draft board to induct him into the US armed forces. After initially refusing, the board eventually signed him up. He soon found himself fighting with the 69th Infantry on the Siegfried Line in Nazi Germany.

Marchetti served during the difficult time of the Battle of the Bulge. Somehow, the worst circumstances brought out the best in him, and soon he was winning medals. When news of his valiant performance reached his hometown papers, his parents were finally released from the detention camp.

The Road to Excellence

After the war, Marchetti finished high school in Antioch, where he had already demonstrated talent as a football player and was named the team’s most valuable player. He also tended bar and became a motorcycle stunt rider. Upon graduation, he attended Modesto Junior College for a year, until assistant coach Brad Lynn of the University of San Francisco recruited him.

In 1948, Marchetti enrolled at the University of San Francisco, where he played with some fine teammates, eleven of whom—including quarterback Ed Brown, offensive tackle Bob St. Clair, and all-American Ollie Matson—eventually went on to the NFL.

Marchetti became known as an extremely rough player who rarely missed a chance to get in some cheap shots. The war had left its imprint on his playing style—he had become a hatchet man. However, one of his opponents, Doak Walker, gave him a look that helped him see he had been using unsportsmanlike tricks. The experience caused him to clean up his style. From then on, he was on the lookout for others who played dirty and gave them his own version of justice. At San Francisco, he was named all-Pacific Coast and all-Catholic tackle in 1951.

The Emerging Champion

The next year, Marchetti was picked by the Dallas Texans in the second round of the National Football League (NFL) draft. Although he played well as an offensive tackle, the team did so poorly that it was re-formed and moved to Baltimore. The resulting new team was called the Baltimore Colts. As offensive tackle, Marchetti played well but not exceptionally. Then, in 1954, Weeb Ewbank became head coach, and he reassigned Marchetti to play defensive end. He began to shine in the role, having gained a valuable education from his various positions. He had learned a number of deceptive moves from his opponents and incorporated them into his own play.

With time, the Colts became champions, and Marchetti turned out to be one of the finest defensive ends ever. He won all-league honors from 1955 through 1965, played in ten Pro Bowl games and was named all-pro eight times. In 1970, he was selected the best defensive end in the NFL’s first fifty years. Eventually, the Pro Football Hall of Fame named him to its AFL-NFL 1960–84 all-star team.

Continuing the Story

Marchetti’s strongest asset was his vicious pass rush. At 6 feet 4 inches and 245 pounds, his physique impressed his opponents. He was able to knock down any interference, and it was nearly impossible to keep him away from the opposing passer and ball carrier. More than any player before him, Marchetti proved that it was possible to be quick as a defensive end, in spite of his height and heavy weight.

Although he had a vicious streak on the field, off the field Marchetti was a different person. A modest man who never complained or talked about himself, he simply loved life. Each January, he happily returned to his wife and three children in Antioch, California, and worked in a cocktail lounge. Then one winter, the Colts’ owner, Carroll Rosenbloom, offered him the capital for his own restaurant if he would move his family to Baltimore. The resulting Gino’s Restaurant grew into a chain of Gino’s along the East Coast, all featuring the Ginoburger.

In 1958, Marchetti broke his leg in two places during the NFL Championship game. When he announced his decision to retire in 1963, he was given an enormous farewell party by the Colts. Twice he was persuaded to return and play, in 1965 and 1966. He led the Colts team to its first conference title since 1959 and to its tenth straight victory. When he retired again, after thirteen years with the Colts, he was given another fabulous retirement party. Though the last of the original Gino's restaurants closed in the 1990s after he had sold the chain to Marriott in the 1980s, in 2010, he had become involved with bringing the franchise back with the opening of a new restaurant in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Marchetti served as a consultant and spent some time working in the kitchen as well as developing recipes as a small number of further locations were opened in subsequent years.

Marchetti died of pneumonia in Paoli, Pennsylvania, on April 29, 2019, at the age of ninety-three.

Summary

Gino Marchetti was one of the finest defensive ends ever. He was the prototype of the modern-day defensive end: big and quick. He competed in ten Pro Bowl games, was named all-pro eight times, was selected best defensive end in the NFL’s first fifty years, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972.

Bibliography

Lavietes, Stuart. "Gino Marchetti, Baltimore Colts Defensive Star, Dies at 93." The New York Times, 30 Apr. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/obituaries/gino-marchetti-dead.html. Accessed 24 Aug. 2020.

MacCambridge, Michael. America’s Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation. New York: Random House, 2004.

McCullough, Bob. My Greatest Day in Football: The Legends of Football Recount Their Greatest Moments. New York: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, 2002.

Smith, Ron, and Dan Dierdorf. Heroes of the Hall. St. Louis: Sporting News, 2003.