Alan Ameche
| Alan Ameche | |
|---|---|
| 200px | |
| Date of birth | March 1 1933 |
| Date of death | August 8 1988 (aged 55) |
| Place of death | Houston, Texas |
| Position(s) | Running back |
| College | Wisconsin |
| NFL Draft | 1955 / Round 1/ Pick 2 |
| Career highlights | |
| Pro Bowls | 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 |
| Awards | 1954 Heisman Trophy, 1955 UPI NFL R.O.Y. |
| Honors | NFL 1950s All-Decade Team Italian American Sports HOF |
| Statistics | |
| Team(s) | |
| 1955-1960 | Baltimore Colts |
| College Hall of Fame | |
Lino Dante "Alan" Ameche (March 1, 1933 – August 8, 1988), nicknamed "The Horse," was an American football player who played six seasons with the Baltimore Colts in the National Football League after winning the Heisman Trophy in college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was elected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons in the league. He is famous for scoring the winning touchdown in the 1958 NFL Championship Game against the New York Giants, labeled "The Greatest Game Ever Played."
After emigrating to the United States in the late 1930s, his family returned for a year to Italy. The family then returned to Kenosha, Wisconsin. Alan was the cousin of noted actors Don Ameche and Jim Ameche. With colleague (and former Colts teammate) Gino Marchetti, Alan Ameche founded the Gino's Hamburgers chain. However, the Baltimore-based Ameche's Drive-in restaurants were named for him. Ameche died in Houston, Texas.
College career
Ameche earned All-American honors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he played linebacker as well as fullback in those 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 a carry. He won the Heisman in 1954. Ameche is one of four Wisconsin players whose number (35) has been retired, and one of six whose name and number appears on the Camp Randall Stadium façade (fellow Heisman winner and current career rushing record holder Ron Dayne (No. 33) and Dave Schreiner (No. 80) are the others).
NFL career
Ameche 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). He averaged 4.2 yard per carry over his career. He held the record for rushing yards in his first three NFL games until Carnell "Cadillac" Williams passed it in 2005.
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 in overtime as the Colts beat the Giants, 23-17. It was his second touchdown of the day as he also scored a TD on a 2 yard run in the second quarter.
Ameche finished a relatively short six-season NFL career with 4,045 rushing yards, 101 receptions for 733 yards and 44 touchdowns.
| Preceded by: Johnny Lattner |
Heisman Trophy Winner 1954 |
Succeeded by: Howard "Hopalong" Cassady |
Legacy
Notes
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Bowden, Mark. 2008. The Best Game Ever: Giants vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 9780871139887
- Gildea, William. 1994. When the Colts belonged to Baltimore: a father and a son, a team and a time. New York: Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 0395621453
- Hanks, Stephen. 1989. The game that changed pro football. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Pub. Group. ISBN 1559720123
- Olesker, Michael. 2008. The Colts' Baltimore: A City and Its Love Affair in the 1950s. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9780801890628
External links
- Bio from University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
- Ameche's page on the Heisman Trophy site. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
- Football Star Who Helped Colts Win '58 Title
- Alan Ameche Statistics
- University of Wisconsin Football
- 'Best Game Ever' makes for interesting, insightful look back at '58 title game
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