Charles James Cherundolo Jr. (August 8, 1916 – December 22, 2012) was an

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 e ...

player and coach. He played

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 eccentrici ...

and

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 ...

for ten seasons in the

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 ...

(NFL) with 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 ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

and

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. He was born in Old Forge, Pennsylvania.

Playing career

Cherundolo played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, where he was a voted a

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

in 1936. He was named

All-America 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 Al ...

at Penn State. He went on to play ten seasons in the NFL.

Coaching career

Cherundolo was hired by the Steelers as an assistant coach upon the end of his playing career. He coached with the Steelers from 1949 through 1958, leaving football in 1959. Cherundolo returned to the Steelers in 1960 as a part-time scout and returned as a full-time assistant coach for the 1961 season. He went on to coach for the Philadelphia Eagles with head coach and friend

Nick Skorich Nicholas Leonard Skorich (June 26, 1921 – October 2, 2004) was an American football player and coach. Skorich played guard at Bellaire High School and the University of Cincinnati before joining the United States Navy in 1943. After the end ...

in 1962 and 1963, then went on to coach with the Washington Redskins until 1966, when he coached for the Chicago Bears for a total of eight years, interrupted by a one-year coaching job for the

Tri-City Apollos The Tri-City Apollos were a professional American football team based in Midland, Michigan. Early years An earlier team known as the Macomb Arrows began in 1962, playing in Pontiac, Michigan in the semi-pro Midwest Football League. After winning ...

Midland, Michigan Midland is a city in Midland County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 42,547 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Midland metropolitan statistical area, part of the larger Saginaw-Midland-Bay City ...

. He coached a total of 22 years in the NFL with four teams.

Awards and honors

Cherundolo was selected to two NFL All-Star Teams during his playing career. He was named second-team

All-NFL All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...

in three seasons. In 2007, as part of the team's 75th anniversary commemoration, the Steelers named him as the center on their Legends team. The team represents the best players in the franchise's history through 1970.

Personal life

Cherundolo married Margaret Whitehead; the couple had two children, Patricia and John. Both his son and grandson played football at the Division I level. At the time of his death in 2012, he was the fourth-oldest living professional football player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherundolo, Chuck 1916 births 2012 deaths American football centers American football linebackers Cleveland Rams players Continental Football League coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football players Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers players Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Philadelphia Eagles coaches Washington Redskins coaches People from Old Forge, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania