Bill Pellington
{{Short description|American football player (1927–1994)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| embed =
| name = Bill Pellington
| image = Pellington-Bill-1960.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Pellington in 1960
| number = 65, 36
| position = Linebacker
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|09|25|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|04|26|1927|09|25}}
| death_place = Towson, Maryland, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lb = 234
| high_school = Ramsey (NJ)
| college = Defiance (1948-1950)
Rutgers (1950-1952)
| undraftedyear = 1952
| pastteams =
- Cleveland Browns ({{NFL Year|1952}})*
- Baltimore Colts ({{NFL Year|1953}}–{{NFL Year|1964}})
| pastcoaching =
- Baltimore Colts ({{NFL Year|1963}})
Defensive backs coach
| highlights =
- NFL champion (1958, 1959)
- Second-team All-Pro (1964)
- Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame (1988)
| statlabel1 = Games played
| statvalue1 = 141
| statlabel2 = Interceptions
| statvalue2 = 21
| statlabel3 = Fumble recoveries
| statvalue3 = 14
| pfr = P/PellBi20
}}
William A. Pellington (September 25, 1927 – April 26, 1994) was an American professional football linebacker who played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts. Known for his aggressive style and so-called neck-tie tackles, Pellington was a mainstay with the Colts teams that captured league championships in the 1958 and 1959 seasons.
Early life
Bill Pellington was born on September 25, 1927, in Paterson, New Jersey.[https://www.njsportsheroes.com/billpellingtonfb.html Bill Pellington], NJSports.com. Accessed April 17, 2024. "Bill Pellington was born on September 25, 1927 in Paterson." He was raised in nearby Ramsey, New Jersey, where he attended and played prep football at Ramsey High School.{{cite news |last1=Hunsinger Benbow |first1=Dana |title=Bill Pellington: The 'meanest, dirtiest' Colt to ever play died not remembering one down |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2023/01/30/bill-pellington-meanest-colt-to-ever-play-died-with-no-memory-of-it/69850103007/ |access-date=April 8, 2024 |work=The Indianapolis Star |date=January 30, 2023}}
After graduating from high school, Pellington joined the U.S. Navy, and was stationed in Panama during the final months of World War II. Upon returning to New Jersey after his military service, Pellington played football and baseball for the team representing the American Legion in Wyckoff, New Jersey.{{cite news |title=Grid Inaugural Tomorrow Night |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-gird-inaugural-tomorrow-night/145417835/ |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=April 15, 2024 |work=The Wyckoff News |date=October 10, 1946}}{{cite news |title=Legion Loses Opening League Contest, 11 to 3 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-legion-loses-opening-league-con/145493000/ |access-date=April 16, 2024 |work=The Wyckoff News |via=Newspapers.com |date=May 15, 1947}}
College career
Pellington began his college football career at Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio before transferring to Rutgers University. Pellington spent two years at Rutgers, graduating in 1952.{{cite web |title=Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame |url=https://scarletknights.com/honors/rutgers-athletics-hall-of-fame/william-pellington/173 |website=Scarletknights.com |access-date=April 16, 2024}} While at Rutgers, Pellington became known for his speed relative to his size and played both quarterback and fullback.{{cite web |title=1960 Baltimore Colts media guide |url=https://www.colts.com/team/mediaguides |website=Colts.com |access-date=April 17, 2024}} Under coach Harvey Harman, Rutgers went 4-4 in both of Pellington's seasons.{{cite web |title=Rutgers Scarlet Knights School History |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/rutgers/ |website=Sports Reference CFB |access-date=April 17, 2024}}
Pellington was inducted into the inaugural class of the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.{{cite news |last1=Wallace |first1=William N. |title=COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK; Balance Is the Eastern Look |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/01/sports/college-football-notebook-balance-is-the-eastern-look.html |access-date=April 16, 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=October 1, 1988}}
Professional career
After graduating from Rutgers, Pellington was signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cleveland Browns for the 1952 NFL season.{{cite news |title=Browns Sign Xavier Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/dayton-daily-news-browns-sign-xavier-sta/145244069/ |access-date=April 16, 2024 |work=Dayton Daily News |via=Newspapers.com |date=April 3, 1952}}
After being cut from the Browns, Pellington returned to New Jersey. In April 1953, Pellington was offered a tryout by the newly constituted Baltimore Colts. He hitchhiked {{Convert|236|mi}} from his home in Ramsey, New Jersey, to Baltimore, ultimately making the team. In his first season with the Colts, Pellington appeared in all 12 games, starting in 11, and recorded two interceptions and two fumble recoveries on the season.{{cite web |title=Bill Pellington |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/PellBi20.htm |website=Pro Football Reference |access-date=April 17, 2024}}
Between 1953 and 1956, Pellington appeared in all 48 games, starting all but one, and quickly earned a reputation as a hard-hitting defensive playmaker. Pellington captained the 1956 Colts defense.{{cite web |title=1957 Baltimore Colts media guide |url=https://www.colts.com/team/mediaguides |website=Colts.com |access-date=April 17, 2024}}
Pellington suffered a broken arm in the opening game of the 1957 season against the Detroit Lions.{{cite web |title=1958 Baltimore Colts media guide |url=https://www.colts.com/team/mediaguides |website=Colts.com |access-date=April 17, 2024}} He was sidelined for the remainder of the season.
Pellington returned for the 1958 season and recorded four interceptions as part of the Colts 1958 NFL Championship winning team. In the deciding overtime period, Pellington stopped New York Giants quarterback Charley Conerly on a scramble, which gave Baltimore the ball and led to Alan Ameche's game-winning touchdown.{{cite news |last1=Maule |first1=Tex |title=HERE'S WHY IT WAS THE BEST FOOTBALL GAME EVER |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1959/01/19/heres-why-it-was-the-best-football-game-ever |access-date=April 17, 2024 |work=Sports Illustrated |date=January 19, 1959}}
In 1959, Pellington again recorded four interceptions and the Colts repeated as NFL champions.
During the 1963 season, new Colts head coach Don Shula named Pellington the Colts' defensive backs coach. Pellington's longtime teammate, Gino Marchetti, was named defensive line coaches. Both remained as players on the field, making them the first player-coaches in team history.{{cite news |last1=Klingaman |first1=Mike |title=This Week in Sports History: January 27, 1963 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-this-week-in-sports-hi/145419317/ |access-date=April 16, 2024 |work=The Baltimore Sun |via=Newspapers.com |date=January 27, 2020}}{{cite web |title=1963 Baltimore Colts media guide |url=https://www.colts.com/team/mediaguides |website=Colts.com |access-date=April 17, 2024}} Pellington and Marchetti were relieved of their coaching duties prior to the 1964 season.
In 1964, Pellington's final season, he recorded two interceptions and one fumble recovery. The Colts earned a place in the 1964 NFL Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns. The Colts lost 27-0, and Pellington retired following the conclusion of the season.
Legacy
In his book Days In The Sun, longtime Baltimore Sun sportswriter John Steadman described Pellington: "If a sculptor wanted to mold the face and physique of a football player, the perfect working model was Bill Pellington, who spent 12 impact years with the Baltimore Colts and distinguished himself with an intensity that earned respect..."{{cite book |last1=Steadman |first1=John |title=Days In The Sun |date=June 1, 2000 |publisher=Baltimore Sun |location=Baltimore, MD |isbn=978-1893116160}}
Pellington was known for his swing-arm tackling technique, or neck-tie tackling.{{cite news |last=Bowen |first=George |agency=Associated Press |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OhkrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=55wFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5853,3411860 |title=Pellington in Final Season With Baltimore |newspaper=Reading Eagle |date=October 7, 1964 |access-date=January 20, 2011 |via=Google News}} Colts teammate Alex Hawkins later recalled, "Bill Pellington should have been thrown out of every game he ever played and most of the practices. Pellington was nuts. Even the officials were a little afraid of him. He got away with murder."
Personal life
Pellington was married to Milica "Micki" Pellington, the couple had two children. They resided in Timonium, Maryland and remained after Pellington retired from the NFL.
In 1963, Pellington opened The Iron Horse restaurant in Timonium. Pellington and several other former Colts players opened businesses in the Baltimore area, which was encouraged and sometimes funded by then-Baltimore Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom.{{cite news |last1=Cromwell |first1=Herb |title=Heroes and neighbors |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-heroes-and-neighbors/145419549/ |access-date=April 17, 2024 |work=The Baltimore Sun |via=Newspapers.com |date=August 8, 2018}} In December 1976, a disgruntled patron of The Iron Horse attempted to firebomb the restaurant by dropping flaming toilet paper rolls from a plane. The toilet paper did not light, and the man was charged with littering and reckless flying. The same man had previously crashed a small airplane into the upper deck of Baltimore's Memorial Stadium after the end of a playoff game between the Colts and the Pittsburgh Steelers. No fans were injured in that crash.{{cite news |title=Flyer gets 90 days in tissue issue |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/dayton-daily-news-flyer-gets-90-days-in/145243778/ |access-date=April 17, 2024 |work=Dayton Daily News |agency=UPI |via=Newspapers.com |date=February 27, 1977}}
Pellington's youngest son is film and music video director Mark Pellington. Mark created a documentary film, Father's Gaze, which examined his father's battle with Alzheimer's disease.{{cite news |last1=Kent |first1=Milton |title=Memories of 'The Iron Horse' in fcous |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-memories-of-the-iron/145244010/ |access-date=April 16, 2024 |work=The Baltimore Sun |via=Newspapers.com |date=November 3, 1993}} His older son, William "Bato" Pellington, is an industrial real-estate broker in Baltimore.
Pellington died on April 26, 1994, of respiratory complications from Alzheimer's disease.{{cite news |last1=Bliss |first1=DeWitt |last2=Rasmussen |first2=Fred |title=Pellington lauded for iron play, kind heart |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-pellington-lauded-for/145424280/ |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=April 17, 2024 |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=April 27, 1994}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Footballstats |nfl=bill-pellington |espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |fox= |si= |pfr=P/PellBi20 |rotoworld= }}
- {{Find a Grave|62959621}}
{{1958 Baltimore Colts}}
{{1959 Baltimore Colts}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pellington, Bill}}
Category:American football linebackers
Category:Baltimore Colts players
Category:Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players
Category:People from Ramsey, New Jersey
Category:Players of American football from Bergen County, New Jersey
Category:Players of American football from Paterson, New Jersey