SWC75
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GINO CAPPELLETTI (born March 26, 1934) 6-0 190 receiver, defensive back, placekicker
Long before Tom Brady, Gino Cappelletti was “Mr. Patriot”. His accomplishments are legendary but somehow his legend hasn’t gotten him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He actually started out as a quarterback and defensive back at the University of Minnesota who convinced his coach to let him try a 47 game winning field goal. He then became their kicker, as well. The NFL didn’t want him so he went to Canada to play not in the CFL but in something called the Ontario Rugby Football Union, an early rival to the CFL. He eventually was, briefly, a Winnipeg Blue Bomber and Saskatchewan Roughrider but returned to the ORFU after a stint in the US Army, which did want him.
He joined the fledgling Patriots in 1960 as a defensive back and won a kicking contest to be their place-kicker. Eventually they started using him as a pass-catching end. He caught one pass that first year, (for 28 yards). Then he caught between 34 and 47 passes a year for the next seven years. He tailed off to 13 catches in 1938 at age 34 and then had a single catch again in 1969, (for 21 yards). He wound up with 292 catches for 4,589 yards, 15.7 yards per catch, (Jerry Rice averaged 14.8), and 42TDs. As a defensive back he once had three interceptions in a game. He even throw a touchdown pass. he also returned four kickoffs and a punt. He was a football player.
But his greatest fame was as a kicker. He kicked 176 field goals, (including 6 in one game), and 342 extra points. Between that and his pass receptions, he led the league in scoring 5 times. When he retired, only Paul Hornung had scored more points in a pro football season. He was the AFL's all-time leading scorer and it's MVP in 1964. But this might be his greatest record: he played in every AFL game the Patriots ever played. And then, In 1970, he was finally an NFL football player, although by then he was simply kicking. He then retired at age 37, having come a long way from playing for Toronto Balmy Beach in the ORFU. He became a long-time color man in the Patriot’s broadcasting booth, retiring in 2012.
Long before Tom Brady, Gino Cappelletti was “Mr. Patriot”. His accomplishments are legendary but somehow his legend hasn’t gotten him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He actually started out as a quarterback and defensive back at the University of Minnesota who convinced his coach to let him try a 47 game winning field goal. He then became their kicker, as well. The NFL didn’t want him so he went to Canada to play not in the CFL but in something called the Ontario Rugby Football Union, an early rival to the CFL. He eventually was, briefly, a Winnipeg Blue Bomber and Saskatchewan Roughrider but returned to the ORFU after a stint in the US Army, which did want him.
He joined the fledgling Patriots in 1960 as a defensive back and won a kicking contest to be their place-kicker. Eventually they started using him as a pass-catching end. He caught one pass that first year, (for 28 yards). Then he caught between 34 and 47 passes a year for the next seven years. He tailed off to 13 catches in 1938 at age 34 and then had a single catch again in 1969, (for 21 yards). He wound up with 292 catches for 4,589 yards, 15.7 yards per catch, (Jerry Rice averaged 14.8), and 42TDs. As a defensive back he once had three interceptions in a game. He even throw a touchdown pass. he also returned four kickoffs and a punt. He was a football player.
But his greatest fame was as a kicker. He kicked 176 field goals, (including 6 in one game), and 342 extra points. Between that and his pass receptions, he led the league in scoring 5 times. When he retired, only Paul Hornung had scored more points in a pro football season. He was the AFL's all-time leading scorer and it's MVP in 1964. But this might be his greatest record: he played in every AFL game the Patriots ever played. And then, In 1970, he was finally an NFL football player, although by then he was simply kicking. He then retired at age 37, having come a long way from playing for Toronto Balmy Beach in the ORFU. He became a long-time color man in the Patriot’s broadcasting booth, retiring in 2012.
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