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 Bellino in 2007 | |||||||||||||
| No. 27 | |||||||||||||
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| Position | Halfback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (1938-03-13)March 13, 1938 Winchester, Massachusetts, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Died | March 27, 2019(2019-03-27) (aged 81) Lincoln, Massachusetts, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Winchester | ||||||||||||
| College | Navy (1958–1960) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1961: 17th round, 227th overall pick | ||||||||||||
| AFL draft | 1961: 19th round, 146th overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career AFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Joseph Michael Bellino (March 13, 1938 – March 27, 2019) was an American professionalfootball player who was ahalfback in theAmerican Football League (AFL) for theBoston Patriots. He playedcollege football for theNavy Midshipmen, where he won theHeisman Trophy in 1960.[1] He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1977.
Bellino was born inWinchester, Massachusetts, attended the town's public schools, and was a three-sport star at Winchester High School. Inbaseball he batted well over .400 and was courted by major league teams. He was offered a contract by thePittsburgh Pirates after high school.[2]
Thebasketball team on which he starred won the state championship his sophomore and junior years. They moved up to the Class A (largest schools) tournament his senior year, where the team's 55-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of much largerB.M.C. Durfee High School ofFall River.
He was a dominanthalfback on Winchester's outstanding football team, although his senior season was shortened by the 1955polio epidemic. He was recruited by severalBig Ten schools,Notre Dame,Ivy League schools as well as theU.S. Military Academy, but his first choice all along was Navy.[2]
During his 1956–57 year at Columbian Prep inWashington, D.C., Bellino starred in both football and basketball. On November 25, Bellino scored three touchdowns in Columbian's upset win over theNavy Plebes, 34–33.
In the fall of 1957, Bellino entered theUnited States Naval Academy inAnnapolis, Maryland, along with his former high-school teammate, Frank Dattilo. During his freshman year, the Plebes matched up against thePenn State freshmen. Penn State won the game 23–13, but Bellino took a lateral from his Columbian teammate Harry Dietz and scored on an 85-yard kickoff return.
He was an outstanding baseball player at Navy, but his legendary exploits occurred on the football field. In his senior year, he rushed for 834 yards, caught 15 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns, threw two touchdown passes, averaged 47.1 yards as a punter, and returned kicks and punts. He won the 1960Heisman Trophy by a wide margin, garnering the most votes in each of the five national voting regions. In Bellino's finalcollege football game, Navy's loss to theUniversity of Missouri in the 1961Orange Bowl, he scored his team's final touchdown with a spectacular diving catch in the end zone.
Following graduation, Ensign Bellino began his four years of active Navy service, until he was discharged to reserve duty.
Bellino was selected in 17th round of the1961 NFL draft by theWashington Redskins, as well as in the 19th round of the1961 AFL draft by theBoston Patriots. He decided to join the Patriots of theAmerican Football League, and played three seasons, primarily as akick returner. Due to his five-year commitment to the U.S. Navy following graduation, he remains the lowest draftedHeisman Trophy winner in the history of theNational Football League (NFL).[3]
Bellino also played for the Providence Steamrollers semi-pro team inProvidence, Rhode Island.
Bellino is the only past Heisman Trophy winning running back to have played for the Patriots. He caught a 15-yard pass from past Heisman Trophy winnerJohn Huarte in the Patriots 38–14 rout of theHouston Oilers on December 11, 1966. Bellino caught a deflected pass on his back that allowed the Patriots to continue a drive that resulted in a touchdown in their 14–3 win over theBuffalo Bills in "The Game" atFenway Park on December 4, 1966.
He had the Patriots longest kickoff return in 1966 and caught a 25-yard TD pass in the Patriots 20–10 win over the Buffalo Bills atWar Memorial Stadium on October 8, 1966.
Bellino was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1968 AFL expansion draft.[4]
Bellino served a total of 28 years in theUnited States Navy and theNaval Reserve, and retired with the rank of captain.
After the close of his playing career, he was a successful businessman in theBoston area, where he was also active in charitable organizations. He and his wife, Ann Tansey, had two children, Therese and John, and lived inBedford, Massachusetts.[1]
In 1976 Bellino also coached Saint Columbkille, a small Catholic school. In 1991, he was the first inductee into his high school's Winchester Sports Foundation Hall of Fame.[5] Bellino Park in Winchester was dedicated in his honor in November 2004.
Bellino died on March 27, 2019, at the age of 81.[6] Since the start of the team's 2019 season, Bellino's #27 jersey number is painted upon the field at each 27 yard line ofNavy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in memoriam.[7]
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