Ameche, Star for the Baltimore Colts, Dies at Age 55 After Bypass Surgery

Alan Ameche, who scored the winning touchdown in what is called “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” died Monday of a heart attack after undergoing bypass surgery.

Ameche, 55, died at 5:30 p.m. at Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Brenda Blake said.

Ameche, being treated by heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey, underwent heart bypass and valve replacement surgery last Friday, Blake said. Ameche had a similar operation 10 years ago, she said.

Ameche, nicknamed “The Horse” because coaches said he worked like one in practice, scored the biggest touchdown of his career on Dec. 28, 1958, when his Baltimore Colts beat the New York Giants for the National Football League championship in the first overtime game in NFL history. With a national television audience hanging on every play of the extra period, Baltimore quarterback Johnny Unitas drove the Colts toward the New York end zone.

At 8:15 of overtime, Ameche barged into the end zone from a yard out to give Baltimore a 23-17 victory in the game that almost overnight made the NFL a challenger to baseball as the national pastime.

Ameche, a native of Kenosha, Wis., starred at the University of Wisconsin, where he picked up his nickname, set a national record by rushing for 3,212 yards, and won the Heisman Trophy as the top college football player in 1954.

He ran 79 yards for a touchdown the first time he carried the ball as a pro, and went on to lead the league in rushing his rookie season.

Ameche was voted rookie of the year, was an All-Pro selection from 1955 through 1958 and played in five Pro Bowl games before a severe Achilles tendon injury ended his career after the 1960 season.

He ran for 4,045 yards and 40 touchdowns in his pro career.

He was inducted into the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame in 1975.