Benito Modesto "Ben" Pucci ( – ) was a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

tackle Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking ...

who played three seasons for the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

, Chicago Rockets and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

(AAFC) between 1946 and 1948. Pucci Grew up in St. Louis and went to high school there, but did not attend college. He joined the Bisons in 1946, where he stayed for a year before moving to the Rockets and then the Browns in 1948. While he was with the Browns, the team posted a perfect record and won a third straight AAFC championship. He was sent to the AAFC's

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

in 1949, but left the team after he was asked to take a pay cut. Following his football career, Pucci worked in transportation and eventually settled in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

in 1980. He died there in 2013.

Early life and high school

Pucci grew up in

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, a historically

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neighborhood in St. Louis, and attended Southwest High School, where he played on the varsity football team for four years and was named an all-district and all-city player. He did not go to college after graduating. Pucci played for the

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of the short-lived

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

in 1944, and had to turn down an offer to join the football program at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pu ...

the following year because he had lost his amateur status by playing professionally.

Professional career

Pucci was given a chance to play for the Cleveland Rams of the

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in 1945, but decided not to take the offer. The Rams went on to win the 1945 NFL championship. Pucci joined the

of the

(AAFC) in 1946, the league's first year of play, and played as a tackle in 11 games. The Bisons won just three games that year. Pucci moved in 1947 to the Chicago Rockets, another AAFC team, and played in 13 of the team's 14 games that season. The Rockets lost all but one of their games and ended with a 1–13

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

. Pucci was traded in early 1948 to the

in exchange for tackle

Roman Piskor Roman John "Ray" Piskor (August 19, 1917 – August 1981) was an American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven ...

and the rights to draft

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's Pete Ashbaugh. He played 12 games for the Browns, who had an undefeated season and won their third straight AAFC championship. Benpucciautograph

The

, another AAFC team, bought Pucci from the Browns in 1949 along with two other tackles. Pucci played for the Colts for the first five games of the season, but quit after he and several other players were asked to take a pay cut.

Later life and death

Pucci left football after quitting the Colts and started a career in the transportation industry. His career took him to

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and finally to

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

in 1980. He was a color commentator for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1960s. He died in 2013 in San Antonio. He had two sons and a daughter with his wife Shirley. Pucci is a member of the walk of fame in The Hill in St. Louis.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Pucci obituary at Hill 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pucci, Ben 1925 births 2013 deaths Players of American football from St. Louis Cleveland Browns (AAFC) players