Ralph Vincent Guglielmi (June 26, 1933 – January 23, 2017), sometimes known by the nickname "the Goog", was an American

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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. Guglielmi 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 Notre Dame from 1951 to 1954, leading the 1953 team to a 9–0–1 record and the 1954 team to a 9–1 record. He was a unanimous All-American pick in 1954 and finished fourth in the

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 ...

voting. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

in 2001. Gugilelmi also played nine season 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) for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

(1955–1960),

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

(1961),

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

(1962–1963), and

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 ...

(1963). In 1960, he ranked among the NFL leaders with 125 completed passes (fifth), 1,547 passing yards (seventh), 19 interceptions (fourth), and 320 yards lost on sacks (first).

Early years

Guglielmi was born in 1933 in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. He played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Grandview Heights High School in Columbus.

Notre Dame

Guglielmi played

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

from 1951 to 1954. He led the

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

, and 1954 Notre Dame teams to a combined record of 25–3–2. As a senior in 1954, he ranked fourth in the nation with 1,160 passing yards (68 of 127 passes) and led Notre Dame to a 9–1 record and the No. 4 ranking in the AP poll. At the end of the 1954 season, he won the

Walter Camp Memorial Trophy The DC Touchdown Club, earlier known as The Touchdown Club of Washington, D.C., was started in 1935 with a passion for charity and sports. In the ensuing years the Club has benefited many local charities as well as providing scholarships to deservi ...

as the best collegiate back, was a consensus first-team pick as the quarterback on the 1954 All-America college football team and finished fourth in the

voting. Guglielmi also set Notre Dame records with 3,117 passing yards and 34 consecutive games completing a pass (four games in 1951 and 10 each in 1952, 1953, and 1954). He also played on defense where he tallied 10 interceptions (five each in 1953 and 1954).

Professional football

Guglielmi was selected by the

in the first round, third overall pick, of the

1955 NFL draft The 1955 NFL draft was held January 27–28, 1955 at the Warwick Hotel in New York City. This was the ninth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery. With the previous eight winners ineligible from the draw, onl ...

. He played for the Redskins in 1955 and from 1958 to 1960. In 1960, he fourth in the NFL with a 56.1% pass completion percentage, sixth with 1,474 yards of

total offense Total offense, also called total yards, is a gridiron football statistic representing the total number of yards rushing and yards passing by a player or team. Total offense differs from yards from scrimmage, which gives credit for passing yardage ...

, and seventh with 1,547 passing yards. He also ranked fourth in the NFL with 19 interceptions. On September 12, 1961, the Redskins traded Guglielmi to the

in exchange for George Izo. Guglielmi appeared in nine games for the Cardinals, completing 56 of 116 passes for 927 yards. In May 1962, the Cardinals traded Guglielmi to the

in exchange for Bill Triplett and a high 1963 draft pick. Guglielmi was a backup to

Y. A. Tittle Yelberton Abraham Tittle Jr. (October 24, 1926 – October 8, 2017) was an American professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants; he also ...

in 1962, completing 14 of 31 passes for 210 yards. In 1963, Guglielmi began the season with the Giants but was traded to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

on September 24, 1963. Guglielmi quit the NFL rather than report to the 49ers. He was then signed by the Philadelphia Eagles on October 24, 1961. He appeared in six games in 1963 (four for the Giants, two for the Eagles), completing seven of 24 passes for 118 yards, zero touchdowns, and three interceptions. Guglielmi played seven years in the NFL, appeared in 66 games (27 as a starter), completed 292 of 626 passes (46.6%) for 4,119 yards, 24 touchdowns, 52 interceptions, and a 46.5 quarterback rating.

Later years

After retiring from his playing career, Guglielmi owned a Cadillac automobile dealership and restaurants in the Washington–Baltimore metropolitan area. He also founded a computer forms company and worked as an insurance agent. He was married to Linda Doeringer and had a son, Ralph David Guglielmi and Lisa Marie Hoffman. Guglielmi was inducted into the

in 2001. Guglielmi moved to

Wallace, North Carolina Wallace is a town in Duplin County, North Carolina, Duplin and Pender County, North Carolina, Pender counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 3,883 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Pender County portion o ...

, in 2003. He died in January 2017 at age 83 due to complications from a stroke in

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guglielmi, Ralph 1933 births 2017 deaths All-American college football players American football quarterbacks College football announcers College Football Hall of Fame inductees New York Giants players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from Columbus, Ohio St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Washington Redskins players