:Charles Puleri
{{Short description|American football player (born 1969)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Charles Puleri
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| number = 7
| position = Quarterback
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|03|01}}
| birth_place = New York, New York, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| high_school = New York (NY) Lehman
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lbs = 195
| college = New Mexico State
| undraftedyear = 1993
| pastteams =
- Sacramento Gold Miners ({{CFL Year|1993}})
- Shreveport Pirates ({{CFL Year|1994}})
- Miami Hooters ({{AFL Year|1995}})
- Texas Terror ({{AFL Year|1996}})
- London Monarchs (1997)
- Iowa Barnstormers ({{AFL Year|1998}})
- New Jersey Red Dogs ({{AFL Year|1999}})
- Dallas Cowboys ({{NFL Year|2000}})*
- New York/New Jersey Hitmen (2001)
- Detroit Fury ({{AFL Year|2002}})
- Buffalo Destroyers ({{AFL Year|2003}})
| aflstatlabel1 = Comp. / Att.
| aflstatvalue1 = 128 / 257
| aflstatlabel2 = Passing yards
| aflstatvalue2 = 1,604
| aflstatvalue3 = 20–14
| aflstatlabel4 = QB rating
| aflstatvalue4 = 66.35
| aflstatlabel5 = Rushing TD
| aflstatvalue5 = 3
| afl = 1304
}}
Charles "Charley" Puleri (born March 1, 1969) is a former professional football quarterback.
Career
Puleri signed to the Sacramento Gold Miners in 1993. He spent the vast majority of his career in the minor leagues, playing at various points in his career with the Miami Hooters, Texas Terror, Iowa Barnstormers, Detroit Fury, Buffalo Destroyers, London Monarchs and, during the 2000 preseason, the Dallas Cowboys. Unusually for a quarterback, Puleri played ironman in arena football, seeing limited playing time on defense and special teams.{{cite web
|url=http://www.arenafan.com/players/Charles_Puleri-1304/
|title=Charles Puleri
|publisher=Arenafan.com
|date=
|accessdate=2012-08-02}}
|author=Associated Press
|url=http://lubbockonline.com/stories/060900/pro_060900129.shtml
|title=Cowboys sign QB Cunningham
|work=Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
|publisher=Lubbock Online
|date=2000-06-09 |accessdate=2012-08-02}}
Puleri is best known for his time with the New York/New Jersey Hitmen of the XFL. In 2001, Puleri, a native of New York City, signed with his hometown team. Puleri would be the starting quarterback in the XFL's first game, leading the Hitmen against the Las Vegas Outlaws on national television. Puleri's tenure as the Hitmen's starting quarterback proved to be a disastrous embarrassment for both him and the league as a whole, as he was repeatedly sacked and turned the ball over numerous times, making the league's level of talent look bad and partially prompting the mass decline in viewers as the season progressed. After a short quarterback controversy, Puleri was benched in favor of Wally Richardson (a former NFL backup for the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons) during the second week of the season.{{cite web
|url=http://www.all-xfl.com/nynjhitmen/team/roster/charlespuleri.htm
|title=NY/NJ Hitmen Roster: Charles Puleri
|publisher=All-xfl.com
|date=
|accessdate=2012-08-02}}
Puleri's struggles were later attributed to the ball's slippery texture, which was later solved by using sandpaper and wirebrush to roughen the surface.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y05XzLR5Ty4|title=How the XFL solved the slippery ball problem with sandpaper|work=ESPN via Youtube|date=January 25, 2018|access-date=February 23, 2020}} (excerpt from This Was The XFL)
References
{{Reflist}}
{{New Mexico State Aggies quarterback navbox}}
{{London Monarchs quarterback navbox}}
{{Florida Bobcats starting quarterback navbox}}
{{Iowa Barnstormers starting quarterback navbox}}
{{Detroit Fury starting quarterback navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puleri, Charles}}
Category:New Mexico State Aggies football players
Category:Miami Hooters players
Category:Iowa Barnstormers players
Category:New Jersey Red Dogs players
Category:Buffalo Destroyers players
Category:New York/New Jersey Hitmen players
Category:London Monarchs players
Category:Players of American football from the Bronx
Category:Sacramento Gold Miners players
Category:American football quarterbacks
Category:20th-century American sportsmen
{{Quarterback-1960s-stub}}