.jpg) Cappelletti (22) with theLos Angeles Rams in 1977 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 22, 25 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Running back | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1952-08-09)August 9, 1952 (age 73) Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 215 lb (98 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Monsignor Bonner(Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Penn State (1971–1973) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1974: 1st round, 11th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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John Raymond Cappelletti (born August 9, 1952) is an American former professionalfootballrunning back who played in theNational Football League (NFL) with theLos Angeles Rams andSan Diego Chargers.
He playedcollege football for thePenn State Nittany Lions, where he won theHeisman Trophy in 1973.[1][2][3][4] He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1993. CoachJoe Paterno said that Cappelletti was "the best football player I ever coached" or words to that effect.[5] Cappelletti's relationship with his younger brother Joey, who was stricken withleukemia, was chronicled into a book and television movie,Something for Joey.
Cappelletti was born on August 9, 1952, inUpper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, where he was raised.[6] He was one of five children born to John and Anna Cappelletti.[7] Cappelletti attended St. Laurence School in Upper Darby (a kindergarten to 8th grade Catholic school[8]) prior to enteringMonsignor Bonner High School inDrexel Hill, a suburb west ofPhiladelphia inDelaware County, where he played football and basketball.[9] He playedquarterback for the Friars[4][10] and graduated in 1970.[11]
In 1969, he was selected first team All-Catholic and All-Delaware County.[12] In 1974, Bonner presented Cappelletti with the Coach Jack Gottschalk Memorial Award. On the same day, Bonner's alumni association established the John Cappelletti Award, to be given annually to the senior who best exemplifies qualities of character, dedication and athletic success. During the same ceremony presenting these awards, Cappelletti was inducted as the first charter member of Bonner's Hall of Fame, and his jersey number 11 was retired by the school.[9]
Cappelletti attended Pennsylvania State University (Penn State).[13] During his sophomore season in1971, he played as adefensive back,[2][14] as the Nittany Lions had two senior running backs who were taken early in the1972 NFL draft:Franco Harris (13th overall) andLydell Mitchell (48th).[15] Head coach Joe Paterno considered Cappelletti too good an athlete not to play somewhere on the team, and intended to switch Cappelletti back to offense as a junior after Harris and Mitchell graduated.[16]
As a seniortailback atPenn State in1973, Cappelletti gained 1,522 yards on 286 carries scoring 17touchdowns as the Nittany Lions rolled to an undefeated 12–0 season.[7][17] In his two-year running-back career, Cappelletti gained over 100 yards in thirteen games and had a career total of 2,639 yards and twenty-ninetouchdowns for an average of 120 yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry.[18][7] In the final month of the 1973 season, he rushed for more than 200 yards in three consecutive games.[12][7] His 2,639 yards in only two years is 14th all-time at Penn State (as of 2024).[19]
He was awarded the 1973Heisman Trophy,Maxwell Award, theUPI College Football Player of the Year, theWalter Camp Award, theTouchdown Club of ColumbusChic Harley Award, ABC-TV Player of the Year, as well as receiving first team consensusAll-America honors. He was also named Amateur Athlete of the Year by thePhiladelphia Sports Writers Association. He was the first Penn State player to be awarded the Heisman Trophy.[12][20][21][22] His Heisman acceptance speech, where he dedicated his award to his dying brother Joey,[23][24] is one of the most memorable in the history of college sports.[12][7] WhenArchbishop Fulton J. Sheen was to follow Cappelletti's speech with a closing benediction, he said "'There is no need for a benediction. God has already blessed you with John Cappelletti.'"[22]
He was also a member of the Gamma Phi chapter ofPhi Gamma Delta at Penn State.[25]
The relationship between Cappelletti and his younger brother, who died of childhoodleukemia on April 8, 1976,[26] was made into atelevision movie in 1977 calledSomething for Joey;[10] Cappelletti was played byMarc Singer.[27] The movie was based on the book of the same name written by Richard E. Peck and chronicled the bond between the two brothers as Cappelletti supported his young brother, ill withcancer.[28]
During Cappelletti's senior season, Penn State playedWest Virginia in late October. The morning of the game, Cappelletti asked Joey what he wanted for his upcoming 11th birthday. Joey replied "I want you to score three touchdowns for me. No, four." InSomething for Joey, a shocked Cappelletti is seen confiding to a teammate: "How am I going to score four touchdowns?" At the end of the first half, Cappelletti had scored 3 touchdowns, well on his way to four. But head coach Joe Paterno did not like to run up the score against opponents, so when the game resumed after halftime, Paterno told Cappelletti he would be on the bench. Cappelletti quietly took his seat on the bench, without telling Paterno of Joey's wish. Late in the third quarter, one of Cappelletti's teammates told Paterno of Joey's wish. On Penn State's next possession, Paterno shouted "22" and Cappelletti took the field; he scored his fourth touchdown on the same possession,[29] and pointed to Joey as he ran off the field. The Lions scored three more touchdowns in the fourth quarter and won 62–14.[29]
Cappelletti was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1993,[22] and is also a member of theNational Italian American Sports Hall of Fame (1989).[30] He was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the 2009 Inductee Class.[31] In 2006, Cappelletti was inducted into the Regions Bank Orange Bowl Hall of Honor.[5]
The undefeated 1973 team was honored atBeaver Stadium during halftime of the2013 home opener on September 7, and Cappelletti received special recognition – his No. 22 wasretired by the program, the first and only number to be retired by any sport at the university.[32][33]
Cappelletti was the eleventh overall pick of the1974 NFL draft, taken by theLos Angeles Rams.[34] He played nine seasons in the league, five with the Rams(1974–1978), and four with theSan Diego Chargers(1980−1983).[35] From 1976-78 he started every game atfullback for the Rams. In 1976 and 1978, he had nearly 1,000 total yards rushing and receiving each year; leading the Rams in rushing in 1978.[35][36] He missed the entire1979 season due to a groin injury, and was traded to the Chargers before the 1980 season for a draft pick. Cappelletti said the Rams could have gotten more in the trade, but accommodated his wish to play in San Diego.[36][37] Over three years with the Chargers, he played more sparingly each year, with less than 100 rushing attempts during that entire time.[35] The groin injury ultimately led to his retirement.[5]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1974 | RAM | 14 | 1 | 55 | 198 | 3.6 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 35 | 5.8 | 9 | 0 |
| 1975 | RAM | 13 | 0 | 48 | 158 | 3.3 | 30 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1976 | RAM | 14 | 14 | 177 | 688 | 3.9 | 38 | 1 | 30 | 302 | 10.1 | 32 | 1 |
| 1977 | RAM | 14 | 14 | 178 | 598 | 3.4 | 15 | 5 | 28 | 228 | 8.1 | 25 | 1 |
| 1978 | RAM | 14 | 14 | 174 | 604 | 3.5 | 26 | 3 | 41 | 382 | 9.3 | 37 | 1 |
| 1980 | SDG | 10 | 8 | 101 | 364 | 3.6 | 46 | 5 | 13 | 112 | 8.6 | 12 | 0 |
| 1981 | SDG | 16 | 6 | 68 | 254 | 3.7 | 30 | 4 | 10 | 126 | 12.6 | 25 | 1 |
| 1982 | SDG | 9 | 6 | 22 | 82 | 3.7 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 48 | 6.9 | 22 | 0 |
| 1983 | SDG | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 105 | 63 | 824 | 2,951 | 3.6 | 46 | 24 | 135 | 1,233 | 9.1 | 37 | 4 | ||
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1974 | RAM | 2 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 3.3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
| 1975 | RAM | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1976 | RAM | 2 | 2 | 35 | 113 | 3.2 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 9.3 | 13 | 0 |
| 1977 | RAM | 1 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 1.6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| 1978 | RAM | 2 | 2 | 13 | 63 | 4.8 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 15 | 0 |
| 1980 | SDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1981 | SDG | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1982 | SDG | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | -2 | -2.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | 7 | 63 | 211 | 3.3 | 16 | 1 | 8 | 56 | 7.0 | 15 | 0 | ||
Cappelletti is married with four sons and resides inLaguna Niguel, California[38] with his wife Betty (née Berry). His sister-in-law is the daughter of Heisman Trophy winnerAlan Ameche.[39] The first time Cappelletti ever saw a Heisman Trophy was as a college sophomore visiting Ameche's home with his teenage brother, where Ameche's trophy was on the mantle.[7] He is not related to formerBoston Patriots star and 1964AFL MVPGino Cappelletti.[40]
Cappelletti also is aclassic car enthusiast.[38]