Mario Raymond Celotto (born August 23, 1956) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

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 ...

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). He 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 ...

for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

Football career

Born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and raised in

Rancho Palos Verdes, California Rancho Palos Verdes is a coastal city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated on September 7, 1973, the city has a population of 42,287 as reported in the 2020 United States census. The city sits atop the bluffs of ...

, to Ray and Cecilia E. Celotto, owners of Dreamland Bedding Corporation, Celotto graduated from St. Bernard High School and played

at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

from 1974 to 1977. During the game against rival Notre Dame in his 1977 senior season, Celotto once recovered a fumble by Terry Eurick of Notre Dame at the Notre Dame 5-yard line and scored a touchdown. He was selected in the 7th round (171st overall) of the

1978 NFL draft The 1978 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 2–3, 1978, at the Roosevelt Hotel ...

by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. He played for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

for the 1980 season, when the Raiders won

Super Bowl XV Super Bowl XV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

; the next season, he played for the Raiders,

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

, and

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 ...

. After 1981, Celotto left the NFL due to a knee injury.

After football

After retiring from football, Celotto founded Humboldt Brewing Company in 1987. In 1997, Humboldt Brewing merged with Mendocino Brewing.

Personal life

Mario Celotto met Julia Lendl, who played track and volleyball at USC, and married her after she graduated with a degree in physical education. They had two sons. His younger son, Tonio Dante Celotto, played college football at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

in the 2007 and 2008 seasons and graduated from Piedmont High School in 2007. After Julia divorced Mario, he married Deirdre Taylor Haizlip, group account director at Carol H. Williams Advertising. Their wedding took place on May 21, 2005 at

Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands Charlotte Amalie ( ; ), located in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Thomas, is the historical Capital city, capital and largest town of the United States Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands. It is located on the island's southern shor ...

and officiated by The Rev. Skip Sikora from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. In 2009, Tonio Celotto left the team and said that he was interested in joining the

Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

. On February 4, 2011, arranged by the Silicon Valley Education Foundation, Celotto visited a physics class in

Yerba Buena High School Yerba Buena High School is a public, comprehensive four-year high school located in the East San Jose area of San Jose, California, USA. Its athletic teams are well-known, and the school has the Engineering MAGNET program and the Green Constructi ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

to demonstrate how

Newton's laws of motion Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that describe the relationship between the motion of an object and the forces acting on it. These laws, which provide the basis for Newtonian mechanics, can be paraphrased as follows: # A body re ...

apply to football.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celotto, Mario 1956 births Living people American football linebackers Baltimore Colts players Buffalo Bills players American brewers Los Angeles Rams players Oakland Raiders players People from Eureka, California Players of American football from Los Angeles USC Trojans football players