Pasquale "Pat" Abbruzzi (August 29, 1932 – June 3, 1998) was an American

college A college ( Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

and professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

and a successful

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. Abbruzzi played collegiately for the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

(Class of 1955), and professionally for the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

for four years (

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yiji ...

–

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Early life and college career

Abbruzzi was born and raised in

Warren, Rhode Island Warren is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 11,147 at the 2020 census. History Warren was the site of the Pokanoket Indian settlement of Sowams located on a peninsula within the Pokanoket region. The reg ...

and is the younger brother of former NFL player, Lou "Duke" Abbruzzi. Abbruzzi attended Warren High School and went on to the University of Rhode Island following graduation. As a member of the

Rams football team, from 1951 to 1954, he was an all star running back. He rushed 562 times for a school record 3389 yards (6 yard per carry average) and 25 touchdowns. His greatest and record setting day was October 4, 1952, versus New Hampshire (a 27-7 win). In this game, Abbruzzi rushed for 306 yards, including a 99-yard run from scrimmage, both school records. He also scored 3 TDs. He was named All-

Yankee Conference The Yankee Conference was a collegiate sports conference in the eastern United States. From 1947 to 1976, it sponsored competition in many sports, but was a football-only league from mid-1976 until its dissolution in 1996. It is essentially the a ...

each of these years and named a New England All-Star from 1952 to 1954.

Professional football career

Abbruzzi was drafted twice by the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

in 1954 (30th round, 352 overall) and 1955 (13th round, 147 overall). Abbruzzi chose the

of the

for a pro career, mostly because they offered him a $500 bonus which he used for his honeymoon. In four years with the Alouettes, 1955 to 1958, he played 49 regular season games and 2

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

matches (against the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Comm ...

.) He rushed 700 times for a total of 3749 yards (5.4 yard average) with 25 rushing TDs and eleven 100 yard rushing games. Abbruzzi's greatest year was his first in the CFL, 1955, when he was part of a dynamic Als team that contended for the 1955 Grey Cup. Abbruzzi rushed 182 times and led the CFL in rushing with 1,248 yards (6.9 yard average) and in touchdowns with 17 (his longest rush was 69 yards). Abbruzzi was named the second recipient of the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award, as well as a CFL All-Star, at the conclusion of the 1955 season. Abbruzzi continued as the Larks top rusher in 1956 with 1,062 yards and was named to a second consecutive CFL All-Star team in 1956. His 20 touchdowns that year stood alone as a CFL record until 1990 and was finally surpassed by Allen Pitts in 1994. In 1957, Abbruzzi had 809 yards, but an injury-plagued 1958 season would turn out to be his last, when Abbruzzi finished the year with 630 yards. In July 1959 he was traded to the Calgary Stampeders for Veryl Switzer during training camp but was released before the start of the 1959 regular season.

Career regular season rushing statistics

https://www.statscrew.com/football/stats/p-abbrupat001

Teaching career and high school coaching career

After his professional career, Abbruzzi became a successful and much beloved Physical Education teacher and football coach at his alma mater, Warren High School in

. He coached eight division champions over 26 years, and also coached baseball in his spare time. During the 1970s his football team set an interscholastic league record of 31 victories in a row. Known to all as "Doc", he was a legendary figure in Rhode Island high school football. Abbruzzi was named to the University of Rhode Island Athletic Hall of Fame in 1972 and the Rhode Island Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1976. He was a charter member of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame (1998) and in 2005 Pat was named to the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Hall of Fame. He was later elected to the Sons of Italy Athletic Hall of Fame.

Death

Pat Abbruzzi died on June 3, 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbruzzi, Pat 1932 births 1998 deaths People from Warren, Rhode Island Players of American football from Rhode Island American football running backs Rhode Island Rams football players Players of Canadian football from Rhode Island Canadian football running backs Montreal Alouettes players Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Player Award winners Coaches of American football from Rhode Island High school football coaches in Rhode Island