Ed Marinaro

Marinaro inHill Street Blues, 1981
No. 49
Position	Running back
Personal information
Born	(1950-03-31)March 31, 1950 (age 75) New York City,New York, U.S.
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	212 lb (96 kg)
Career information
High school	New Milford (New Milford, New Jersey)
College	Cornell (1969–1971)
NFL draft	1972: 2nd round, 50th overall pick
Career history
Minnesota Vikings (1972–1975) New York Jets (1976) Seattle Seahawks (1977)
Awards and highlights
Maxwell Award (1971) SN Player of the Year (1971) Unanimous All-American (1971) First-teamAll-American (1970) Third-team All-American (1969) 3× First-team All-East (1969,1970,1971)
Career NFL statistics
Rushing attempts 383 Rushing yards 1,319 Rushing TDs 6 Receptions 146 Receiving yards 1,176 Receiving TDs 7 Stats atPro Football Reference
College Football Hall of Fame

Ed Marinaro (born March 31, 1950) is an American actor and former professionalfootballrunning back who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for theMinnesota Vikings. He playedcollege football for theCornell Big Red, where he was aunanimous All-American and won theMaxwell Award in 1971.

From 2010 to 2011, Marinaro starred in the football comedy seriesBlue Mountain State. He is also known as a regular cast member ofHill Street Blues, playing Officer Joe Coffey for five seasons (1981–1986).

Marinaro playedhigh school football inNew Milford, New Jersey, for theNew Milford High School Knights.^[1]

Marinaro playedcollege football atCornell University, where he was a three-time All-American, and set over 16NCAA records. He was the firstrunning back in NCAA history to run for 4,000 career rushing yards, and led the nation in rushing in 1971.^{[citation needed]}

Marinaro was runner-up toPat Sullivan for theHeisman Trophy in 1971, the highest finish for anIvy League player since the league de-emphasized football in the mid-1950s.Princeton'sDick Kazmaier won the award in 1951 when the Ivy was still considered a major football conference. Marinaro won the 1971Maxwell Award and theUPI College Football Player of the Year as the top player in college football. He holds fourNCAA records: most rushes per game in a season (39.6 in 1971), career average carries per game (34.0, 1969–71), most rushing yards per game over an entire career (174.6, 1969–71), and earliest game reaching 1,000 rushing yards (5th, 1971).^{[citation needed]}

While at Cornell, Marinaro was a member ofPsi Upsilon and was selected for membership in theSphinx Head Society. He went on to play professional football for six seasons with theMinnesota Vikings,New York Jets andSeattle Seahawks, appearing inSuper Bowl VIII andSuper Bowl IX with the Vikings. He scored 6 touchdowns over his career.^[2]

After leaving football, Marinaro became an actor. He has been a cast member on a number of television series, includingLaverne & Shirley andSisters. He joined the regular cast ofHill Street Blues in 1981, playing officer Joe Coffey until 1986. Furthermore, he co-presented the Crystal Light USA National Aerobic Championship. He also appeared in the 2006 filmCircus Island.

Marinaro played the head football coach for three seasons on Spike TV's comedy,Blue Mountain State.

In September 2019, Marinaro was a guest onTurner Classic Movies. WithBen Mankiewicz, he appeared inwraparounds and provided introductions for films in a college football-themed series.^[3]

Marinaro is married to fitness expert Tracy York and has one son.^[4]

Marinaro was inducted to theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1991.^[5]

In January 2020, Marinaro was named by ESPN as one of the "150 greatest players in college football's 150-year history", ranking at number 126.^[6] He was one of only three Ivy League players on the list.^[7] ESPN wrote of Marinaro, "It is up for debate as to whether Marinaro is the last great running back produced by the Ivy League. What is not up for debate are the numbers that illustrate his production."^[6]

• List of NCAA Division I FBS career rushing touchdowns leaders
• List of NCAA major college football yearly rushing leaders
• List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders

• College Football Hall of Fame profile

• Career statistics fromNFL.com · Pro Football Reference · 
• Ed Marinaro atIMDb

• 1950 births
• Living people
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• All-American college football players
• American football running backs
• American male film actors
• American male television actors
• American people of Italian descent
• College Football Hall of Fame inductees
• Cornell Big Red football players
• Male actors from Bergen County, New Jersey
• Male actors from New York City
• Maxwell Award winners
• Minnesota Vikings players
• New Milford High School (New Jersey) alumni
• New York Jets players
• People from New Milford, New Jersey
• Players of American football from Bergen County, New Jersey
• Players of American football from New York (state)
• Seattle Seahawks players

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from June 2024
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from November 2023