Art Donovan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Art Donovan
Date of birth: June 5, 1925 (1925-06-05) (age 83)
Place of birth: Bronx, New York, United States
Career information
Position(s): DT
College: Boston College
Organizations
 As player:
1950
1951
1952
1953-1961
Baltimore Colts
New York Yanks
Dallas Texans
Baltimore Colts
Career highlights and Awards
Pro Bowls: 1953, 1954, 1955,
1956, 1957
Honors: NFL 1950s All-Decade Team
Stats at DatabaseFootball.com
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1968

Arthur Donovan, Jr. (born June 5, 1925) is a former American football defensive tackle. He is the son of Arthur Donovan, a famed boxing referee, and the grandson of Professor Mike Donovan, the world middleweight boxing champion in the 1870's.

He spent four years in military service with the United States Marine Corps during WW II before playing college football at Boston College. He graduated in 1950.

He started playing professional football with the Baltimore Colts in 1950, but that edition of the franchise folded. He moved to the New York Yanks in 1951; they became the Dallas Texans in 1952 and finally the Baltimore Colts in 1953. He became one of the stars in an outstanding defense and was selected to five straight Pro Bowls for 1954 to 1958. The Colts won back to back championships in 1958 and 1959.

He was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968. He published an autobiography, "Fatso", in 1987. He was noted as a jovial and humorous person during his playing career and capitalized on that with television and speaking appearances after retiring as a player. He owns and manages a country club near Baltimore.

Donovan also made a guest appearance in the Nickelodeon show The Adventures of Pete & Pete in the episode, "Space, Geeks, and Johnny Unitas." Donovan was also guest commentator for the WWF's 1994 edition of King of the Ring alongside Gorilla Monsoon and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. This appearance was subsequently lampooned on the website "WrestleCrap" for Donovan's lack of wrestling knowledge and repeated usage of the question "How much does 'dis fella weigh?"

Was co-host of the popular 1990s program Braase, Donovan, Davis and Fans on WJZ-TV in Baltimore with fellow Colt teammate Ordell Braase. The trio talked more about Art Donovan's fabled stories than contemporary NFL football, but the show held high ratings in its time period.

[edit] External links

Languages