Aristomeni S. Menil Mavraides (November 17, 1931 – June 5, 1999) was an American 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

for the

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 ...

of 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 ...

in 1954 and 1957.ProfootballReference.com
/ref> With the nickname "Minnie", he was listed at 6' 2" and 220 lbs.

Early life

Mavraides was born November 17, 1931, in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...

. He played for the Lowell High School Red Raiders football team under head coach Ray Riddick.

College career

Mavraides went on to play for Notre Dame from 1950 to 1953. At Notre Dame he played under head 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 ...

, who was the former line coach for the

Seven Blocks of Granite The Seven Blocks of Granite were the Fordham University football team's offensive line under head coach "Sleepy" Jim Crowley and line coach Glen Carberry Frank Leahy. The individuals identified among the Seven Blocks of Granite were Leo Paquin, ...

where Learhy coached Mavraides' high school coach Ray Riddick. Here, Mavraides played shoulder-to-shoulder with Tackle

Art Hunter Arthur Hunter (April 24, 1933 – December 25, 2009) was an American professional football player who was a tackle for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the Not ...

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 ...

Jim Schrader, and Fullback Neil Worden as the main blockers for

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

winning

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Johnny Lattner. During his sophomore year, Mavraides was instrumental in helping the Irish beat the 9-0 Rose Bowl bound

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 ...

at home by recovering a late game fumble deep in Trojan territory. His senior year, the 1953 Notre Dame finished the season 9-0-1 and was runner up to the National Championship, and had an unprecedented 12 players drafted to '54 NFL. Mavraides also finished his college career being ranked #1 in all

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

with 27pts in kick scoring. In the September 13th, 1954

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

article Herman Hickman describes the 1953 Notre Dame Team by writing;

Frankly, it's hard to see how any squad could lose such men as halfback Johnny Lattner, fullback Neil Worden, tackle Art Hunter, center Jim Schrader, and guard Menil Mavraides and still be a top-ranked team. Each was on some All-American or other. Lattner, Worden and Hunter were first-round Pro draft choices. Schrader was a second-round choice. Mavraides a third. But Notre Dame is not an ordinary football team, it's Notre Dame... Notre Dame doesn't lose two often.

Before the start of the 1954 NFL season, Mavraides, joined four of his Fighting Irish classmates, in the 1954 summer classic

College All-Star Game The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League (NFL) champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year. It was also known as the ...

, where they lost 31 to 6 to the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

in front of 93,000 fans.

Later life

In 1986, Lowell High school inducted Mavraides into the LHS Athletic Hall of Fame. Mavraides died on June 5, 1999, at the age of 67.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mavraides, Menil 1931 births 1999 deaths Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from Lowell, Massachusetts University of Notre Dame alumni American football guards