Albert Felix Pierotti (October 24, 1895 – February 12, 1964) 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 with ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

and

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Football career

Pierotti played in the

American Professional Football League The American Professional Football League (APFL) was an indoor football league that was founded in 2003. After the 2012 season, most of the teams left to start the Champions Professional Indoor Football League. The league consisted of profes ...

with the

Akron Pros The Akron Pros were a professional football team that played in Akron, Ohio from 1908 to 1926. The team originated in 1908 as a semi-pro team named the Akron Indians, but later became Akron Pros in 1920 as the team set out to become a charter mem ...

, Cleveland Tigers and the

New York Brickley Giants The New York Giants (informally known as Brickley's Giants and Brickley's New York Giants) were a professional American football team with the American Professional Football Association (now the National Football League) whose only season played ...

. Brickley's New York Giants are not related to the modern-day

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. Al won the 1920 NFL Championship with Akron. When the AFPA became the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

in 1922, Pierotti went on to play with the

Milwaukee Badgers The Milwaukee Badgers was a professional American football team, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that played in the National Football League from 1922 to 1926. The team played its home games at Athletic Park, later known as Borchert Field, on Mi ...

and

Racine Legion The Racine Legion was a professional American football team based in Racine, Wisconsin, of the National Football League from 1922 to 1924. Its official name was the Horlick-Racine Legion. The team then operated as the Racine Tornadoes in 1926. ...

. In 1926, Pierotti played for the Boston Bulldogs of the

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. ...

, an NFL rival started by

Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees ...

and his agent

C. C. Pyle Charles C. Pyle (March 26, 1882 – February 3, 1939), often called Cash and Carry Pyle, was a Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Champaign–Urbana, Illinois theater owner and sports agent who represented American football star Red Grange and ...

. After the Bulldogs folded, Pierotti played semipro football for the

University of Peabody The University of Peabody was a semipro American football team based in Peabody, Massachusetts. The team consisted mostly of former high school and college players and was run by local sports followers. It won the state semipro football championship ...

. He returned to the NFL with the

Providence Steam Roller The Providence Steam Rollers (also referred to as the Providence Steam Roller, the Providence Steamroller and the Providence Steamrollers) were a professional American football team based in Providence, Rhode Island in the National Football Leagu ...

and later played with the NFL's Boston Bulldogs. Prior to playing professional football, Al played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexingto ...

. He coached football for one year (1918) at

Tufts Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

where his team had a record of 2 wins and 3 losses.

Baseball career

Pierotti began his professional baseball career with the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Leagu ...

of the Eastern League. The following season, he joined the

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

in August, appearing in six games. He pitched in two games the following year before returning to the Eastern League with the

Pittsfield Hillies The Pittsfield Hillies were an Eastern League (Class A) baseball team from 1919 to 1930. They were League Champions in 1919 and 1921. Their home field was at Wahconah Park, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. 1905 The Pittsfield Hillies was a professiona ...

. After one more season, split between Pittsfield and the

Waterbury Brasscos Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...

, Pierotti returned to football full-time.

Wrestling career

In 1931, Pierotti began wrestling. On July 30, 1931 he challenged

Jim Londos Christos Theofilou ( el, Χρήστος Θεοφίλου; January 2, 1894 – August 19, 1975), better known as "The Golden Greek" Jim Londos (Greek: Τζίμ Λόντος), was a Greek American professional wrestler. Londos was one of the most p ...

for the World Heavyweight Championship at the

Coney Island Velodrome The Coney Island Velodrome was a mid-sized sports arena in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. Designed as a bicycle racing venue, the drome featured a wooden oval track with 45° banked corners and seating for 10,000. It also hosted outboa ...

. Londos defeated Pierotti in 17:05 with an airplane spin. In 1932, Pierotti began refereeing matches at the

Boston Arena Matthews Arena (formerly Boston Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the world's oldest multi-purpose athletic building still in use, as well as the oldest arena in use for ice hockey. The arena opened in 1910 on what ...

while continuing to wrestle occasionally.

Later life and death

In 1935, Pierotti became an assistant football coach at Chelsea High School. In 1936 he became head coach of the school's baseball team. From 1936 to 1938 he also hosted a sports talk show on WMEX. Pierotti remained at Chelsea High School as a teacher and baseball coach until his death on February 12, 1964.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierotti, Al 1895 births 1964 deaths Akron Pros players American football offensive linemen American male professional wrestlers American sports radio personalities Boston Braves players Boston Bulldogs (AFL) players Boston Bulldogs (NFL) players Cleveland Tigers (NFL) players Cleveland Tigers-Indians coaches High school baseball coaches in the United States High school football coaches in Massachusetts High school football coaches in Ohio Milwaukee Badgers players New York Brickley Giants players Pittsfield Hillies players Professional wrestling referees Providence Grays (minor league) players Providence Steam Roller players Racine Legion players Tufts Jumbos football coaches Washington and Lee Generals baseball players Washington and Lee Generals football players Waterbury Brasscos players Players of American football from Boston Baseball players from Boston