Leo Nomellini

Leo Nomellini

No. 73
Date of birth	(1924-06-19)June 19, 1924
Place of birth	Lucca, Italy
Date of death
Place of death	Stanford, California, United States
Career information
Position(s)	Defensive Tackle
College	Minnesota
NFL draft	1950 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11
Career history
As player
1950-1963	San Francisco 49ers
Career highlights and awards
2x Consensus All-American selection (1948, 1949) 10× Pro Bowl selection (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961) 9× All-Pro (1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962) NFL 1950s All-Decade Team NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team San Francisco 49ers #73 retired Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee (1969) College Football Hall of Fame inductee (1977)
Career stats
Playing stats at NFL.com
College Football Hall of Fame Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1969
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	U.S. Marine Corps
Battles/wars	World War II

Leo Joseph Nomellini (June 19, 1924 – October 17, 2000) was a Hall of Fame American football player with the San Francisco 49ers. He was born at Lucca in Italy and immigrated to the United States as an infant. However Nomellini didn’t play football until 1942, when he served in World War II, with the Marine Corps.

After the war, Leo received a football scholarship to the University of Minnesota, where be became a two-time All-American and the 49ers' first-ever NFL draft choice in 1950.

Nomellini played in every 49ers game for 14 seasons, 174 regular-season and 266 pro games in all. During his career he played both defensive and offensive tackle, winning all pro honors at both positions. He was selected to the All-NFL team six times, two years on offense, four years on defense. Nomellini was named to the NFL's all-time team as a defensive tackle.

In 1969, Nomellini was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and in 1977, the College Football Hall of Fame.

During the off-season Nomellini often wrestled professionally as Leo "The Lion" Nomellini.

Championships and accomplishments

• NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club - American Wrestling Association

• AWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Wilbur Snyder
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Minneapolis version) (3 times) - with Verne Gagne (2) and Butch Levy (1)

• NWA San Francisco

• NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (4 times) - with Hombre Montana (1), Enrique Torres (2), and Rocky Brown (1)

External links

• Pro Football Hall of Fame: Member profile
• [1] New York Times Obit