Marchetti, Gino J.
Football
b. Jan. 2, 1927, Smithers, WV
One of the few defensive linemen ever to be named player of the year, Marchetti was voted the best defensive end of the NFL's first 50 years in a 1969 poll of sportswriters.
After graduating from high school, Marchetti served in the Army during World War II and then organized a semi-pro football team in Antioch, CA. He attended Modesto Junior College and the University of San Francisco and was chosen by the New York Yanks in the second round of the 1952 NFL draft.
The Yanks became the Dallas Texans before his rookie season and folded a year later. Marchetti went to the new Baltimore Colts franchise in 1953 and played in the Pro Bowl after the season, one of eleven Pro Bowl appearances.
Best known as a pass rusher, the 6-foot-4, 245-pound Marchetti was also a solid defender against the run. He was named an All-Pro six seasons in a row, from 1957 through 1962. When the Colts won the 1958 NFL championship, Marchetti was named player of the year by the Associated Press.
He retired after the 1964 season, but returned to play four games with Baltimore in 1966, when the team was depleted by injury.