Joe Fortunato (linebacker)
Joseph Francis Fortunato Jr. (March 28, 1930 – November 6, 2017) was an American professional football player who spent his entire 12-year National Football League (NFL) career playing linebacker for the Chicago Bears. A five-time Pro Bowl selection, he was the captain and signal-caller for the Bears defense, leading to an NFL Championship in 1963. Fortunato is one of only four players, and the only defensive player named to the National Football League 1950s All-Decade Team who has not yet been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Prior to the NFL, Fortunato played fullback and linebacker for Mississippi State University, and made All-American in 1951. Early life Fortunato was born on March 28, 1930, in Mingo Junction, Ohio. He worked in his grandparents’ grocery store as a child and in the steel mill as a teen. College career VMI Fortunato initially attended Virginia Military Institute (VMI) where he was a member of the VMI Keydets football team in 1949. Missis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line of scrimmage than the defensive backs (secondary). As such, linebackers play a hybrid role and are often the most versatile players on the defensive side of the ball; they can be asked to play roles similar to either a defensive lineman (such as stopping the runner on a running play) or a defensive back (such as dropping back into pass coverage). How linebackers play their positions depends on the defensive alignment, the philosophy of the coaching staff, and the particular play the offense may call. Linebackers are divided into middle linebackers, sometimes called inside linebackers, and outside linebackers. The middle linebacker is frequently the "quarterback of the defense". His central role on the field means he is in the best positio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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All-American
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-America team for their sport. Some sports have multiple All-America teams, and list the honorees as members of a first team, second team, or third team. All-America teams are composed of outstanding U.S. amateur athletes. Individuals falling short of qualifying for the honor may receive All-America honorable mention. The designation is typically used at the collegiate level, although, beginning in 1957, high school athletes in football began being honored with All-American status, which then carried over to other sports like basketball and cross-country running. The selection criteria vary by sport. Athletes at the high school and college level placed on All-America teams are referred to as ''All-Americans.'' Term usage Individuals ear ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fullback (American Football)
A fullback (FB) is a position in the offense (sports), offensive backfield in gridiron football and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback (American football), halfback. Fullbacks are typically larger than halfbacks, and, in most offensive schemes, the fullback's duties are split among power running, reception (gridiron football), pass catching, and blocking (American football), blocking for both the quarterback and the other running back. Many great rush (gridiron football), runners in the history of American football have been fullbacks, including Jim Brown, Marion Motley, Bronko Nagurski, Jim Taylor (fullback), Jim Taylor, Franco Harris, Larry Csonka, Tom Rathman, John Riggins, Christian Okoye, and Levi Jackson. However, many of these runners would retroactively be labeled as halfbacks, due to their position as the primary carry (gridiron football), ball carrier; they were primarily listed as fullbacks due to their size and did not often perform the ru ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pro Football Hall Of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coaches, officials, franchise owners, and front-office personnel, almost all of whom made their primary contributions to the game in the National Football League (NFL). Canton is often used as shorthand or metonym for the Hall of Fame. , there are a total of List of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees, 382 members of the Hall of Fame. Between four and nine new inductees are normally enshrined every year. For the 2020 class, a 20-person group consisting of five modern-era players and an additional 15 members, known as the "Centennial Slate", were elected to the Hall of Fame to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the NFL. The Chicago Bears have the List of Chicago Bears in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, mo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National Football League 1950s All-Decade Team ...
This is a list of all NFL players who had outstanding performances throughout the 1950s and have been compiled together into this fantasy group. The team was selected by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame retroactively in 1969 to mark the league's 50th anniversary. Notes: : Team that belonged to the All-America Football Conference for at least part of the player's tenure References {{DEFAULTSORT:1950s All-Decade Team NFL All-Decade Teams Foot Foot Foot Foot Foot Foot Foot Foot Foot Foot Foot The foot (: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is an organ at the terminal part of the leg made up o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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NFL Championship
Throughout its history, the National Football league (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national champion. Following its founding in Canton, Ohio (1920), the NFL first determined champions through end-of-season standings, switching to a playoff system in 1933 (a one-game playoff was required in 1932). The rival All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and American Football League (AFL) have since merged with the NFL (the only two AAFC teams that currently exist, the Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers, joined the NFL in ), but AAFC Championship Games and records were not included in the NFL's record books until 2025. The AFL began play in 1960 and, like its rival league, used a playoff system to determine its champion, the NFL also incorporated AFL championship games and records in league recordbooks when they merged in 1970. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line of scrimmage than the defensive backs (secondary). As such, linebackers play a hybrid role and are often the most versatile players on the defensive side of the ball; they can be asked to play roles similar to either a defensive lineman (such as stopping the runner on a running play) or a defensive back (such as dropping back into pass coverage). How linebackers play their positions depends on the defensive alignment, the philosophy of the coaching staff, and the particular play the offense may call. Linebackers are divided into middle linebackers, sometimes called inside linebackers, and outside linebackers. The middle linebacker is frequently the "quarterback of the defense". His central role on the field means he is in the best positio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and the highest professional level of American football in the world. Each NFL season begins annually with a NFL preseason, three-week preseason in August, followed by the NFL regular season, 18-week regular season, which runs from early September to early January, with each team playing 17 games and having one Bye (sports), bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, seven teams from each conference, including the four division winners and three Wild card (sports), wild card teams, advance to the NFL playoffs, playoffs, a single-elimination tournament, which culminates in the Super Bowl, played in early February ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at each end. The offense (sports), offense, the team with possession of the oval-shaped Ball (gridiron football), football, attempts to advance down the field by Rush (gridiron football), running with the ball or Forward pass#Gridiron football, throwing it, while the Defense (sports), defense, the team without possession of the ball, aims to stop the offense's advance and to take control of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance the ball at least ten yard, yards in four Down (gridiron football), downs or plays; if they fail, they turnover on downs, turn over the football to the defense, but if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue the Glossary of American football#drive, drive. Points are scored primarily b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the football into the opponent's end zone. More specifically, a touchdown is when a player is in possession of the ball, any part of the ball is in the end zone they are attacking, and the player is not down. Because of the speed at which football happens, it is often hard for an official to make the correct call based on their vantage point alone. Most professional football leagues, such as the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL), as well as some college leagues, such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), allow certain types of plays to be reviewed. Among these plays are touchdowns, as well as all other scoring plays, dangerous or unsportsmanlike conduct by players o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fumble
A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful handing that results in loss of ball possession by a player. Unlike other events which cause the ball to become loose, such as an incomplete pass, a fumbled ball is considered a live ball, and may be recovered and advanced by any member of either team. A fumble may be forced by a defensive player who either grabs or punches the ball or butts the ball with their helmet (a move called "tackling the ball"). A fumbled ball may be recovered and advanced by either team (except, in American football, after the two-minute warning in either half/overtime or on 4th down at any point during the game, when the fumbler is the only offensive player allowed to advance the ball, otherwise the ball is ruled dead at the spot of the fumble, except when it is ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Interception
In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team but caught or otherwise brought under control by a player of the opposing team, who thereby usually gains possession of the ball for their team. It is commonly seen in football, including American football, American and Canadian football, as well as association football, rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules football and Gaelic football, as well as any sport by which a loose object is passed between players toward a goal. In basketball, this is called a Steal (basketball), steal. Gridiron football In American football and Canadian football, an interception occurs when a forward pass that has not yet touched the ground is caught by a player of the defensive team. This leads to an immediate change of possess ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |