Benito Modesto "Ben" Pucci ( – ) was an American professional

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tackle 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 Fiel ...

Chicago Rockets The Chicago Rockets were an American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949. During the 1949 season, the team was known as the Chicago Hornets. Unlike the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, a ...

and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a major 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 ...

(AAFC) between 1946 and 1948. Pucci Grew up in

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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 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...

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

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in 1980. He died there in 2013.

Early life

Pucci grew up in The Hill, a historically

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neighborhood in

, 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 Hollywood Rangers 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, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

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

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

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 The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to ...

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

, 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

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. Pucci was traded in early 1948 to the

in exchange for tackle Roman Piskor and the rights to draft Notre Dame'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

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in 1980. He was a color commentator for the

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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.

Bibliography

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pucci, Ben 1925 births 2013 deaths Players of American football from St. Louis Cleveland Browns (AAFC) players American Football League (1944) players Buffalo Bisons (AAFC) players Chicago Rockets players American football tackles