.jpg) Braase in 1968 | |||||||||
| No. 81 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Defensive end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1932-03-13)March 13, 1932 Mitchell, South Dakota, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | March 25, 2019(2019-03-25) (aged 87) Bradenton, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Mitchell (SD) | ||||||||
| College: | South Dakota | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1954: 14th round, 160th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Ordell Wayne Braase (/ˈbreɪsiː/BRAY-see;[2] March 13, 1932 – March 25, 2019) was an American professionalfootballdefensive end in theNational Football League (NFL). He played with theBaltimore Colts throughout his career. While Braase was with the Colts they won the NFL Championship three times, in 1958, 1959 and 1968. He was a Pro Bowl pick in both 1966 and 1967. In his final season (1968), the Colts went toSuper Bowl III, on January 12, 1969, only to lose to the New York Jets.
After playing at South Dakota, the Colts selected Braase in the 14th round of the1954 NFL draft. However, he did not join the team until 1957, delayed by three years of service in theU. S. Army which included a tour of duty in Korea.[3] In his second season, he won an NFL title in the1958 NFL Championship Game, a game widely considered one of the best in NFL history.
During his football career inBaltimore, Braase performed in commercials for Dixie Cola, even singing their jingle.
Following his retirement as an active player, Braase was a restaurant owner inTimonium,Maryland, and in the 1970s was an executive with a Baltimore truck body manufacturer. He also teamed with play-by-play announcerChuck Thompson to provide color commentary for radio broadcasts of Colts games. In the 1990s, he co-hosted a popular program,Braase, Donovan, Davis and Fans onWJZ-TV in Baltimore with fellow Colt teammateArt Donovan. The trio talked more about Art Donovan's fabled stories than contemporary NFL football, but the show held high ratings in its time period.
Braase later lived in Bradenton, Florida, where he died in 2019 at the age of 87.[4]