 Adamle on a 1951 football card | |||||||||||||
| No. 74, 54 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Linebacker, Fullback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | (1924-05-15)May 15, 1924 Fairmont, West Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Died: | October 7, 2000(2000-10-07) (aged 76) Kent, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| College: | Ohio State | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1947: 12th round, 105th pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Anthony Adamle (May 15, 1924 – October 7, 2000) was an American professionalfootball player who was alinebacker andfullback in theAll-America Football Conference (AAFC) and theNational Football League (NFL). He played his entire career for theCleveland Browns before retiring to pursue a medical degree.
Adamle grew up inCleveland, Ohio, and was a star fullback on hisCollinwood High School football team. He attendedOhio State University in 1942, but his college career was cut short byWorld War II. After a stint in theUnited States Army Air Force, Adamle returned to finish his education at Ohio State in 1946. He soon dropped out of school, however, and joined the Browns. Cleveland won AAFC championships in each of Adamle's first three years, after which the league folded and the Browns were absorbed by the more established NFL. Cleveland continued to succeed in the NFL, winning the1950 championship and advancing to the1951 championship but losing to theLos Angeles Rams. Adamle left the Browns after the 1951 season to pursue a medical degree, but he came out of retirement briefly in 1954 as the Browns won anotherNFL championship.
Adamle left football for good after the season, earning a medical degree fromWestern Reserve University in Cleveland in 1956. He settled with his family inKent, Ohio, where he ran a medical practice until his death in 2000. He was a team physician for his local high school and forKent State University for more than 35 years. Adamle's sonMike played in the NFL as a fullback in the 1970s before retiring and becoming a sports broadcaster.
Adamle was born inFairmont, West Virginia to immigrants from Slovenia.[1] His family moved toCleveland when he was a child, and he attendedCollinwood High School on the city's east side.[1] Adamle was a standoutfullback on his high school team and made a Cleveland-area All-Star squad in 1941 that matched up against a team of stars from Florida.[2] He was "without question the best high school player I have ever seen," one Cleveland sports editor said after he was chosen as an all-star.[2] He was also named an All-Ohio player by theAssociated Press andUnited Press International and earned three varsityletters in football in high school.[3]
Adamle attendedOhio State University and was on the1942 Ohio State Buckeyes freshman team, but left school prior to the 1943 season to fight inWorld War II.[4] After serving in theU.S. Air Force in theMediterranean Theatre of War, he returned to Ohio State forthe team's 1946 season—his only season with the varsity Buckeyes.[4] Playing as acenter in a November game against theNorthwestern Wildcats, Adamleintercepted aFrank Aschenbrenner pass in the third quarter and returned it 38 yards. He had another interception in the fourth quarter of the 39–27 Buckeyes victory.[5] Ohio State finished the season with a 4–3–2 record and Adamle was selected to play in theCollege All-Star Game, a now-defunct matchup between theNational Football League (NFL) champion and a selection of the best college players from around the country.[1][6]
Adamle was eligible to play for the Buckeyes again in 1947, but decided to leave school and join theCleveland Browns of theAll-America Football Conference (AAFC).[7] Adamle had been selected with the 105th pick in the1947 NFL draft by theChicago Bears, and he told Cleveland head coachPaul Brown, who coached Ohio State's varsity team between 1941 and 1943, that he would join the Bears if the Browns did not sign him.[1][8] "I would be a pretty sick fellow today, knowing what I do about Tony, ifGeorge Halas had gotten him," Brown said before the season began.[8]
Adamle's decision to drop out was controversial because of rules that under normal circumstances would have barred him from playing professionally before graduating. The interruption of the war had forced the suspension of the rule to account for players' military service, however, and he was allowed to leave college.[7] The Browns denied that they encouraged Adamle to drop out.[7] Adamle may have been convinced to join the Browns byGene Fekete,Dante Lavelli,Lou Groza andBill Willis, four Browns players who were back at Ohio State to finish their studies after the 1946 season.[7][9]
With the Browns starting inthe team's 1947 season, Adamle played as afullback. He competed withMarion Motley at the position, and said he was "not working to be a second-stringer".[10] Adamle was a straight-talker and was not afraid to stand up to Brown, a cold disciplinarian who was the team's coach between 1946 and 1962.[9][11] Brown was impressed with Adamle's candor and held him in respect.[9] Before the seventh game of the 1947 season, a matchup against theChicago Rockets that October, Adamle replaced Motley as the team's starting fullback. Brown said that while he had not given up on Motley, a big back who had anchored the offense in the Browns' early years, the former starter had "made a few mistakes lately that hurt us" and thought competition would be helpful.[12] Adamle, who was about 15 pounds lighter than Motley, started for a brief time as part of an offense led byquarterbackOtto Graham, registering 23 carries for 95 yards on the season, a career-high.[13][14] The Browns went on to finish the 1947 season with a 12–1–1 record and win the AAFC championship game against theNew York Yankees.[15][16] Adamle returned to Ohio State in the offseason to continue his studies.[17]
Bythe team's following season, Adamle was being used mostly on defense as a left-sidelinebacker, and Motley was again the primary fullback.[18] Cleveland had a perfect season in 1948, winning all of its games and beating theBuffalo Bills in the championship.[19] Adamle had 88 rushing yards and a touchdown that year.[14]
Adamle filled in for an injured Motley at fullback for several games the following year while continuing to play as a linebacker.[20] He had 64 rushing yards and made fourinterceptions, a career-high.[14] Cleveland again won the AAFC championship in1949, but the league then folded and the Browns were absorbed by the more established NFL.[21]
Cleveland's success continued in the NFL inits 1950 season as Adamle was named team captain, replacingLou Saban following his retirement.[9] The team won the1950 NFL Championship Game, and Adamale was one of seven Browns players chosen to play in thefirst Pro Bowl, football's all-star game.[22] He led the NFL with fivefumble recoveries that year and was also named a second-teamAll-Pro by theNew York Daily News.[14]
Adamle was again one of eight Browns chosen for thePro Bowl afterCleveland's 1951 season, when the team reached thechampionship game but lost to theLos Angeles Rams.[23][24] He was named a first-teamAll-Pro byUnited Press International and theNew York Daily News after the season, when he had one interception and one fumble recovery.[14][25] He was used mainly as an outside linebacker in Cleveland's5-3 defense later in his career, only attempting three rushes in the 1950s.[1][14] Adamle finished college atKent State University in 1950, earning abachelor's degree, and received amaster's degree in education fromWestern Reserve University in Cleveland in 1951.[1]
Upset by Brown's criticisms of the defense in the 1951 championship game, Adamle left the Browns before the next season to enter medical school.[26] Brown nevertheless traded the rights to Adamle to theGreen Bay Packers as part of a deal that brought defensive backAce Loomis to Cleveland.[27] "We know Adamle is determined to enter medical school and informed the Packers it is very unlikely he would play any more football," Brown said.[27] The Packers hoped to get him to play part-time while he was in school.[27] Adamle spent most of 1952 working as an orderly at Glenville Hospital in Cleveland, entering Western Reserve's medical school in September.[28]
Adamle came out of retirement to play for the Browns at 30 years old in October 1954.[29] He had been working as a scout for theChicago Cardinals and was in his third year of medical school; he agreed to come back on the condition that he would only practice once a week so he could continue his studies.[29][30] The Browns had advanced to the NFL championship game in both of the seasons he did not play, but lost both times to theDetroit Lions.[31] InCleveland's 1954 season, the team reached thechampionship game and beat theLions, 56–10.[32]
Adamle quit football for good after the season and focused on his medical career. In 1956, he received his medical degree fromWestern Reserve inCleveland, now known asCase Western Reserve University.[1] He settled inKent, Ohio, where he ran a medical practice for the rest of his life.[1] He also served as the team doctor forTheodore Roosevelt High School and Kent State University for more than 35 years.[33] Adamle specialized in knee and neck injuries, and published articles about cold therapy and the use ofVitamin C in sports medicine.[1] TheOhio High School Athletic Association named him the state's Outstanding Team Physician in 1983.[1]
Adamle died in 2000 after a seven-year battle withcancer.[34] His son,Mike Adamle, was a running back at Roosevelt High School and Northwestern University, and played professionally as a fullback for theKansas City Chiefs,New York Jets andChicago Bears in the 1970s before becoming a sports broadcaster.[1]
The management of the Cleveland Browns is emphatic in its statement that no effort was made to induce Tony Adamle, the bone buster from Collinwood, to drop out of Ohio State athletics in favor of a professional career. Nevertheless Adamle did drop out and signed a Browns contract ... Those factors, reading from left to right, were Gene Fekete, Dante Lavelli, Lou Groza and Bill Willis. Those four, members of the Browns' championship professional team last fall, are back in Ohio State, enjoying the advantages of the higher learning – and enjoying them in style.
Dante Lavelli, Lou Groza and Tony Adamle all are Ohio State students. They enter college in the term that begins after the Christmas holidays and stay at the books through the summer.
Cliff is included in a second line of defense that usually has Lou Saban, Tony Adamle and Weldon Humble as linebackers ...
With Motley's condition still an uncertainty, Brown had Tony Adamle working as his first-string offensive fullback ...
