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He was tough, tidy and relentless in his quest for quarterbacks. For 13 years, the Baltimore Colts were defined by a plaque depicting a man simply called Gino.
No Colts player has epitomized the club – or city – better than Gino Marchetti, the Hall of Fame defender who died Monday of a pneumonia sequel. Marchetti, at the age of 93, died at Paoli Hospital in Paoli, Pennsylvania.
"I kissed him and he met me and smiled," said Joan Marchetti, his wife for 41 years. "It was the way to say goodbye to Gino."
Son of an immigrant coal miner, Marchetti came out of the bucket surroundings to become captain of the two world champions (1958-1959) and one of the most feared rushers in the history of the NFL. He often played injured; he always played hard. Bobby Layne, the Detroit quarterback, collided with Marchetti (6-foot-4) and 245-pound. It was "as if we were running into a tree trunk in the dark".
Fast and intelligent, Marchetti was the prototype of the modern defense, said Don Shula.
"He's revolutionized the way you play this position in the NFL," said Shula, a former Colts player and coach. "Before Gino, the attitude [of pass rushers] was to try to physically control the offensive tackle. Gino showed that with a good instinct and a blazing fast, he could get around his man without really involving him.
"The attacking tackle's uniform never became very dirty, but the quarterback did."
These almost ballistic moves – Marchetti could jump over a man to tackle – and his ability to beef up the men of the line make No. 89 the scourge of enemy backfields and a fan favorite in Baltimore.
"Gino romanticized the defense," wrote The Evening Sun's Bill Tanton.
Dark-skinned and dark-skinned, Marchetti captured the heart of the city with a series of hard returns after injuries. Appendicitis in 1954. A shoulder dislocated in 1955. Neither one nor the other did not leave it for more than a month.
In 1958, while he was trying to save the NFL championship game, Marchetti's ankle broke. Lying in the Colts' locker room, waiting to hear the result, he muttered, "If we win this game, it would be worth it to have a broken leg."
Four months later, the club's owner, Marchetti, and his two teammates opened a burgers restaurant on North Point Road in Dundalk. Crowds flocked to the drive-in for the double-deck "Gino Giant" and a chance to meet the namesake of the sandwich. In 1982, "Gino's" was developed into a national chain of 469 fast food restaurants when it was sold to Marriott International for $ 48 million.
Although he played at the time the bags were an official NFL statistic, Marchetti's legacy never depended on the number. In 1969, he was named best defensive end of the first half-century of the NFL. Three years later, while it was his first season of eligibility, Marchetti entered the Professional Football Hall of Fame.
In 1994, he was one of three defensive ends selected in the 75-year-old NFL team alongside David (Deacon) Jones and Reggie White.
On Tuesday, the teammates remembered Marchetti as a giant on and off the pitch. "He was my man, a great human," said Lenny Moore, 85, receiver and receiver of the Colts Hall of Fame. "With all the racism and all that goes on then, Gino was right in our corner, and we never forgot it – it strikes the heart."
Dan Sullivan, 79, an offensive guard who played with Marchetti for four years, has been reminded of having played a face-to-face match against him during practice. Sullivan repeated over and over again, "Gino was moving me quickly and I was falling flat on my stomach, a quick step and he was past you, there was no defensive end tied."
Bob Vogel, an All-Pro forward and Colts' first choice in 1963, will not forget the first time he lined up against Marchetti at training camp.
"Talk about a lamb led to slaughter," said Vogel, 77. "He has me around and gone through. It was like he said, "I can put you in motion, but I can run on your skinny buttocks too."
"But I also remember Gino sitting in the plane next to me after we were trampled in San Francisco that year. He said, "We will come back from this. do not be discouraged. Here is the king of kings, talking to a child who wondered why the colts had called him. It was a precious moment for me. "
Born in Kayford, West Virginia, Gino John Marchetti could have followed his father into the mines if his family had not moved to the West during the Great Depression. They settled in Antioch, California, where Marchetti grew up, the fourth of five children, eager to follow his brothers and sisters in high school football.
"I remember getting into my older brother Lino's room and trying on his uniform," Marchetti told The Sun during an interview in 2006. "I had 9 years old at the time.The uniform did not fit him, but I liked wearing it when Lino was not at home. "
In the summer before his first year, Marchetti worked in a laundry to earn money for football boots. He had shoes, but failed to make the team at Antioch High. Steadfast, he rummaged through the school garbage cans, found an old uniform, dressed and prayed to practice with age. His wish has been granted.
"I did not become a starter until my last year," he said. "Then we lost every game."
It was in 1944. Marchetti left the school, enlisted in the infantry and was sent to Europe towards the end of the war. In April 1945 he was the first American battalion to establish links with Soviet troops on the Elbe in Germany.
"I became much stronger in the army," he said. "Carry a 42-pound machine gun throughout Germany helped."
Back home, he kept the bar and played semi-professional football for two years. When another of Marchetti's brothers, Angelo, was recruited by the Modesto Junior College, Gino was let out on a whim. The homesickness, Angelo has left. Gino stayed in Modesto and played the tackle.
In 1948, an assistant coach from the University of San Francisco heard of his exploits and invited him to a test. Marchetti got on campus with his Harley, a long-haired motorcyclist wearing a leather jacket. "It was so cool that I think it had 17 zippers," he said.
"I walked into the office of head coach Joe Kuharich wearing motorcycle boots with slapping metal heels," said Marchetti. "When I left, Kuharich asked his assistant," Where did you find this hill? "
"Do not worry," says the assistant. "He can play."
Marchetti debuted every three years at the USF, undefeated in 1951. The Donations might have played in the Orange Bowl if they had not been incorporated. The Bowl officials suggested the team leave their two black players at home.
"Forget it," said Marchetti, the captain.
He was the second-round pick of the New York Yanks in 1952, but the franchise was transferred to Dallas before the year of Marchetti's first rookie. Despite his outstanding game in defense, Dallas has retreated after a terrible season (1-11) and has become the Baltimore Colt.
The Colts moved Marchetti to the offensive line – for a season. In 1954, new coach Weeb Ewbank sent him back in defensive position, his favorite.
"There is too much structure in attack," Ewbank told Marchetti. "You have to play by the seat of your pants."
Marchetti's answer?
"I could have kissed Weeb," he says.
He was then selected to 11 Pro Bowls, led the Colts to consecutive championships and wreaked havoc on the rest of the league.
"[Marchetti] San Francisco lineup, Leo Nomellini, said: "He looked like he was dying in the eyes of death."
Sundays still found Marchetti nervously pacing the locker room five hours before the kickoff.
"I've probably walked 30 miles before the game," he said.
The thought of facing Marchetti also caused the concern of his opponents.
"You will never know the sleepless nights I spent when Green Bay was preparing to play in Baltimore," said Forrest Gregg, offensive attacker of the Packers' Hall of Fame. .
By bursting the line, Marchetti had the speed of half a ball for the first five meters.
"He came out of the ball as if he had received a cannon shot," said one day the other Colts defender, who died last month. "I have a picture on my wall that shows that I'm firing Detroit's Earl Morrall, it's probably the only time I got to the quarterback position before Gino."
The secret of Marchetti?
"At the line of scrimmage, I never watched the ball, I would watch the three guys in front of me," he said. "If the guard left a fraction of a second before the tackle, I left, you could see the game in the way they leaned or the way they put their fists on their fingers."
Defensively, the Colts associated Marchetti with Art Donovan, a solid left tackle. Both proved to be a perfect match. Marchetti was tall and thin; Donovan was not. Marchetti rarely spoke; Donovan was rarely silent. But on the field, few teams could support the tandem of Gino The Giant and his sidekick, Fatso.
"Sometimes my speed was causing me trouble and Artie 's quick reactions saved me," said Marchetti. "And sometimes, when he could not go out fast enough, I would be there.
"I felt really comfortable with Artie next to me."
Once, they were absent at the same time at Union Memorial Hospital. The nurses found both in their room, mixing marbles in an ice pitcher and using a thermometer as an agitator.
Ironically, Marchetti's broken ankle, suffered in the fourth quarter of the Colts' sudden victory over the New York Giants in 1958, could have helped Baltimore win the championship. In a third game, he attacked the Giants runner, Frank Gifford, near the first goal, and was buried in the pile. Marchetti's screams distracted the officials who, afterwards, were able to mislead the football.
Six stretcher bearers pulled Marchetti out of the field. When the game resumed, the giants were forced to punt.
A News-American reporter then described the wounded lineman in the jubilant dressing room of the visitors: "He lay on a training table at the back of the stadium, with six feet out of four of injured happiness – a fractured ankle at one end and one The split face with a wonderfully happy smile on the other, the game ball clinging to his chest.
Marchetti was "the best player I played with," said the late Jim Parker.
"For 11 years, I thought the Colts were going to trade and I was scared of having to play Gino, so I watched it closely," Parker said. offensive attacker of the Hall of Fame. "I've never seen anyone beat him, really."
Marchetti's actions were not limited to the field of play. In 1962, after a season 7-7, the Colts dismissed Ewbank. On Marchetti's advice, they hired Shula, then 33, and the youngest head coach in the history of the NFL. Shula coached Baltimore for seven consecutive seasons en route to a place in the Hall of Fame.
Marchetti played his last match in 1966, at the age of 40. He has withdrawn three times. the first two times, the Colts brought him back. He left in 1963, but returned a year later to lead the team to the Cleveland 27-0 title match. It was less than a minute when quarterback Browns, Frank Ryan, wanting to get more points, called a timeout. Angry, Marchetti stormed the line of scrimmage.
"As Gino walked towards Ryan, the entire Cleveland offensive line split like the Red Sea," recalls Colts runner Tom Matte. "Gino pointed at Ryan and said," I'll get you for that. "
Shortly after, in the Pro Bowl, Marchetti faced quarterback Browns, victim of a separate shoulder in the match.
"It was a free kick," said Marchetti. "But [Browns owner] Art Modell spoke about this in the locker room afterwards. "
Marchetti said that Modell, who would own the Ravens, would never forgive him.
"I think that's why [Modell] has never invited me to any of the Ravens' duties, "said the lineman.
Marchetti also had a sweet side. As a team captain, he took part in the draw before the game. There, with everything to see, he tapped his helmet with his right hand.
"It was a signal to my mother," he said. "It meant," Hello Mom, I love you. "
Marchetti said that his reputation as a clean player was what was best.
"I have never been penalized 15 yards," he said. "No late success.No clipping.Not escaped.I did not make stupid mistakes nor put boredom in the team."
Marchetti remained active later. A heart attack in 1981 led him to lose 85 pounds that he had earned since his retirement. He enjoyed fishing in the Atlantic on his 20 meter boat in which he hunted marlin. Where else? – Baltimore Canyon.
Bowling was a passion. At 79, he earned 299 points in a senior tournament, a pin of a perfect match.
In retrospect, he never considered himself a giant.
"I was just a little guy from Antioch who had never had the idea to leave," he told The Sun in 2006. "I was thought I would go to high school, work at the factory, retire and fish in the Sacramento River, it was my plan, and that's what you have done. "
Instead, he won two world championship rings, became a multimillionaire and met many presidents and celebrities.
A favorite photo is hanging on the "Hall of Fame Wall" at his home in West Chester. It is a photo of the late Clark Gable surrounded by five Colts players who met the actor in 1960 at the Los Angeles Airport. Marchetti checked their names: Johnny Unitas, Alan Ameche, Bill Pellington, Carl Taseff and Marchetti.
Not bad for a little guy from Antioch.
On Tuesday, the Ravens recognized Marchetti's disappearance in a statement, calling him "giant of a giant man who has helped many people in need … we appreciate the kindness and respect that Gino has shown to the Ravens in the last 23 years ".
In addition to his wife, Joan Plecenik, Marchetti is survived by his daughters Gina Burgess of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, and Michelle Kapp of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania; sons John Marchetti of Exton, Pennsylvania, and Eric Marchetti, of West Chester, Pennsylvania; daughter-in-law Donna Lloyd of Mountain Top, Pa .; 16 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
The funeral services are incomplete but are managed by the Alleva Funeral Home in Paoli.
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