James 'Bucky' Mutscheller (March 31, 1930 – April 10, 2015) 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 who played

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for nine seasons for the Baltimore Colts.

Early life and education

Mutscheller was born on March 31, 1930, in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, where he played football, basketball, and baseball at Beaver Falls High School. He then played three seasons of football at Notre Dame under coach

Frank Leahy Francis William Leahy (August 27, 1908 – June 21, 1973) was an American college football player and coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1939 to ...

from 1949 to 1951, including on the 1949 national championship team. Mutscheller played both

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

and offense for the Fighting Irish, and served as team captain his senior year.

Professional football

The New York Yanks drafted Mutscheller, but by the time his two-year stint in the

Marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...

ended, the Baltimore Colts had acquired his contract. Mutscheller played for the Colts from 1954 to 1961, amassing 220 catches, 3685 yards, and 40 touchdowns.

Accolades

In 1976, Mutscheller was inducted into the inaugural class of the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame.

Death

He died of kidney failure on April 10, 2015 in Towson, Maryland at age 85.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutscheller, Jim 1930 births 2015 deaths American football tight ends Baltimore Colts announcers Baltimore Colts players NFL announcers Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Sportspeople from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Beaver County, Pennsylvania Western Conference Pro Bowl players