 1952 Bowman football card | |||||||||||||||
| No. 15, 18, 26, 10 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1930-05-07)May 7, 1930 Rochester, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died | July 15, 2017(2017-07-15) (aged 87) Parker, Colorado, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 196 lb (89 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Rochester | ||||||||||||||
| College | Kentucky | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1952: 1st round, 4th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Vito"Babe" Parilli (May 7, 1930 – July 15, 2017) was an American professionalfootballquarterback and coach who played for 18 seasons. Parilli played five seasons in theNational Football League (NFL), 10 in theAmerican Football League (AFL), and three in theCanadian Football League (CFL). He playedcollege football for theKentucky Wildcats, twice receiving consensusAll-American honors and winning two consecutivebowl games.
Parilli achieved his greatest professional success in the AFL as the starting quarterback of theBoston Patriots from 1961 to 1967. He earned threeAll-Star Game selections, while leading the Patriots to their only AFL postseason and championship game appearance in1963. Present for the entirety of the AFL's existence, Parilli played his final seasons for theNew York Jets and was part of the team that won aSuper Bowl title inSuper Bowl III. After retiring as a player, he served as a coach in the NFL,World Football League (WFL), andArena Football League (AFL) from 1973 to 1997. He was inducted to theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1982.
Parilli was born and raised inRochester, Pennsylvania, an industrial town northwest ofPittsburgh, Parilli graduated fromRochester High School in 1948.
Parilli playedcollege football at theUniversity of Kentucky inLexington, and was aquarterback for the Wildcats under head coachPaul "Bear" Bryant. He was a consensusAll-American in1950 and1951 and was fourth in theHeisman Trophy voting in1950 and third in1951. He led the Wildcats to victories in consecutiveNew Year's Daybowl games in the1951 Sugar Bowl and1952 Cotton Bowl.
| Season | Passing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comp | Att | Yards | Comp% | TD | INT | |
| 1949 | 81 | 150 | 1081 | 54.0 | 8 | 13 |
| 1950 | 114 | 203 | 1627 | 56.2 | 23 | 12 |
| 1951 | 136 | 239 | 1643 | 56.9 | 19 | 12 |
| Career total | 331 | 592 | 4351 | 55.9 | 50 | 37 |
Parilli was the fourth overall selection of the1952 NFL draft, taken by theGreen Bay Packers. He played two seasons with the Packers and was then drafted into theUnited States Air Force and to theCleveland Browns. Fulfilling his ROTC commitment, he became a lieutenant in the Air Force and, like a lot of other pros, played service football. When his service was over he played a season with theCleveland Browns in1956, two more with the Packers, and another withOttawa in1959.
At age 30, Parilli was picked up by theOakland Raiders of the fledglingAmerican Football League on August 17,1960,[1] and threw for just over 1,000 yards that season.
On April 4, 1961, he was part of a five-player trade that sent him to theBoston Patriots,[2][3] and he went on to become one of the AFL's most productive and colorful players. Playing for the Patriots from1961 through1967, Parilli finished his career with over 25,000 total yards and 200 touchdowns, ending among the top five quarterbacks in 23 categories such as passing yards, passing touchdowns and rushing yards. Parilli was selected for threeAll-Star Games. In1964, throwing primarily toGino Cappelletti, Parilli amassed nearly 3,500 yards passing with 31 touchdowns; the latter was a Patriots record untilTom Brady broke it in2007. During that season's contest against theOakland Raiders on October 16, he threw for 422 yards and four touchdown passes in a 43–43 tie. Parilli is a member of the Patriots All-1960s (AFL) Team.
Parilli completed his career with theNew York Jets, where he earned a ring asJoe Namath's backup inSuper Bowl III, when the Jets stunned theBaltimore Colts by a 16–7 score. Coincidentally, this gave the Jets two quarterbacks from Pennsylvania'sBeaver County, with Parilli being from Rochester and Namath being from nearbyBeaver Falls. In addition, both played for "Bear" Bryant in college, as Namath played atAlabama. In 1967, it was discovered byLife magazine that Parilli and several other professional athletes were regular patrons ofPatriarca crime family mobster Arthur Ventola's major fencing operation called Arthur's Farm inRevere, Massachusetts. Despite the organized crime connection, journalistHowie Carr stated that there was never any inside information passed between Parilli and Ventola. Arthur was the uncle of mob associateRichard Castucci.
Besides his considerable skills as a quarterback, he was one of the best holders in the history of football and was nicknamed "gold-finger" as a result of kicker Jim Turner's then-record 145 points kicked in1968 (plus another 19 points in the play-offs and inSuper Bowl III). He is one of only 20 players who were in the American Football League for its entire ten-year existence, and is a member of theUniversity of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1982, Parilli was named to theCollege Football Hall of Fame.[4]
Because of theirItalian surnames, the Patriots' wide receiver-quarterback duo of Cappelletti and Parilli was nicknamed "Grand Opera."
Parilli retired as a player at the age of 40 in August1970.[5]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Underline | Incomplete data |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | Sacked | Fum | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | Lng | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Y/A | Lng | TD | Sck | SckY | |||
| 1952 | GB | 12 | 4 | 2–2 | 77 | 177 | 43.5 | 1,416 | 8.0 | 90 | 13 | 17 | 56.6 | 32 | 106 | 3.3 | 19 | 1 | — | 127 | 4 |
| 1953 | GB | 12 | 5 | 0–5 | 74 | 166 | 44.6 | 830 | 5.0 | 45 | 4 | 19 | 28.5 | 42 | 171 | 4.1 | 19 | 4 | — | 161 | 8 |
| 1956 | CLE | 5 | 3 | 1–2 | 24 | 49 | 49.0 | 409 | 8.3 | 68 | 3 | 7 | 58.5 | 18 | 65 | 3.6 | 19 | 0 | — | 63 | 4 |
| 1957 | GB | 12 | 1 | 0–1 | 39 | 102 | 38.2 | 669 | 6.6 | 75 | 4 | 12 | 34.8 | 24 | 83 | 3.5 | 20 | 2 | — | 125 | 3 |
| 1958 | GB | 12 | 4 | 1–3 | 68 | 157 | 43.3 | 1,068 | 6.8 | 80 | 10 | 13 | 53.3 | 8 | 15 | 1.9 | 5 | 0 | — | 89 | 4 |
| 1960 | OAK | 14 | 1 | 1–0 | 87 | 187 | 46.5 | 1,003 | 5.4 | 49 | 5 | 11 | 47.6 | 21 | 131 | 6.2 | 16 | 1 | 11 | 106 | 3 |
| 1961 | BOS | 14 | 8 | 6–2 | 104 | 198 | 52.5 | 1,314 | 6.6 | 53 | 13 | 9 | 76.5 | 38 | 183 | 4.8 | 24 | 4 | 15 | 118 | 2 |
| 1962 | BOS | 10 | 10 | 6–3–1 | 140 | 253 | 55.3 | 1,988 | 7.9 | 67 | 18 | 8 | 91.5 | 28 | 169 | 6.0 | 33 | 2 | 10 | 68 | 6 |
| 1963 | BOS | 14 | 13 | 7–5–1 | 153 | 337 | 45.4 | 2,345 | 7.0 | 77 | 13 | 24 | 52.1 | 36 | 126 | 3.5 | 19 | 5 | 26 | 200 | 7 |
| 1964 | BOS | 14 | 14 | 10–3–1 | 228 | 473 | 48.2 | 3,465 | 7.3 | 80 | 31 | 27 | 70.8 | 34 | 168 | 4.9 | 32 | 2 | 27 | 279 | 7 |
| 1965 | BOS | 14 | 13 | 4–8–1 | 173 | 426 | 40.6 | 2,597 | 6.1 | 73 | 18 | 26 | 50.0 | 50 | 200 | 4.0 | 17 | 0 | 35 | 334 | 8 |
| 1966 | BOS | 14 | 14 | 8–4–2 | 181 | 382 | 47.4 | 2,721 | 7.1 | 63 | 20 | 20 | 66.9 | 28 | 42 | 1.5 | 17 | 1 | 22 | 189 | 8 |
| 1967 | BOS | 14 | 11 | 3–7–1 | 161 | 344 | 46.8 | 2,317 | 6.7 | 79 | 19 | 24 | 58.5 | 14 | 61 | 4.4 | 18 | 0 | 29 | 250 | 4 |
| 1968 | NYJ | 14 | 0 | — | 29 | 55 | 52.7 | 401 | 7.3 | 47 | 5 | 2 | 91.6 | 7 | −2 | −0.3 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 3 |
| 1969 | NYJ | 14 | 0 | — | 14 | 24 | 58.3 | 138 | 5.8 | 29 | 2 | 1 | 85.1 | 3 | 4 | 1.3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 189 | 101 | 49–45–7 | 1,552 | 3,330 | 46.6 | 22,681 | 6.8 | 90 | 178 | 220 | 59.6 | 383 | 1,522 | 4.0 | 33 | 23 | 178 | 2,132 | 71 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | Sacked | Fum | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | Lng | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Y/A | Lng | TD | Sck | SckY | |||
| 1963 | BOS | 2 | 2 | 1–1 | 28 | 64 | 43.8 | 489 | 7.6 | 59 | 2 | 2 | 67.8 | 2 | 10 | 5.0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 50 | 1 |
| 1968 | NYJ | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 4 | 2 | 1–1 | 28 | 65 | 43.1 | 489 | 7.5 | 59 | 2 | 2 | 66.8 | 2 | 10 | 5.0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 50 | 1 | |
In 1974, Parilli became the head coach of theNew York Stars of theWorld Football League; after going bankrupt, the franchise moved toCharlotte mid-season. The next year, he was tabbed as coach of the WFL'sChicago Winds, and briefly seemed to have a chance to coach his old teammate,Joe Namath. But Namath turned Chicago down, and Parilli was replaced in late July after only two pre-season games. (The Winds would play only five regular-season contests before folding, and the rest of the WFL would collapse a few months later.) Parilli would later coach in theArena Football League, helming theNew England Steamrollers,Denver Dynamite,Charlotte Rage,Las Vegas Sting,Anaheim Piranhas andFlorida Bobcats.[6]
Parilli died on July 15, 2017, inParker, Colorado ofmultiple myeloma at the age of 87.[7]
Parilli was elected to theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1982.[8] On November 15, 2014, he was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.[9]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
