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 won the Heisman Trophy in college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then played six seasons with the Baltimore Colts in the National Football League.
In his first professional season he led the league in rushing, was voted the Rookie of the Year and was an All-Pro selection. He was All-Pro for three more years and played in five Pro Bowl games before a severe Achilles' tendon injury ended his career after the 1960 season.[1]
He is best remembered for scoring the winning touchdown in the 1958 NFL Championship Game against the New York Giants, labeled "The Greatest Game Ever Played."
Early life
Born in Italy in 1933, his parents, August and Elizabeth Ameche, emigrated to the United States in the late 1930s, but returned to Italy for a year. Upon returning to the U.S. they settled in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Alan was the cousin of noted actors Don Ameche and Jim Ameche.
At the age of sixteen he started going by Alan and began his football career at Kenosha's Bradford High School, where he was an all-state fullback. In 1950 his team went undefeated and he scored 108 points.
He also placed at state finals and set city records for running track (the 100 and relays) and throwing shot put. Ameche earned six letters between the two sports.
In 1949 he entered a light heavyweight Golden Gloves novice championship. When his potential opponents heard that he had entered, they all withdrew, and he won the title by default.[2]
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.
In 1988, Eric Dickerson, with 1,659 yards rushing, became the first Colt to lead the league in rushing since Alan Ameche in 1955.
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 |
Retirement
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.
Legacy
Notes
- ↑ Thomas Rogers. 1988. Alan Ameche, 55, Football Star Who Helped Colts Win '58 Title Query.nytimes.com. Retrieved July 9, 2008.
- ↑ Chris Hartman. Alan "The Horse" Ameche Archives.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved July 9, 2008.
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
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||
Template:ColtsFirstPick Template:1958 Baltimore Colts Template:1959 Baltimore Colts
| |||||
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.
