Teammates Say That Ameche’s Greatness Went Beyond Football

To Baltimore Colts fans of many eras, he will be remembered as the man who barreled over the goal line to end the football contest that has come to be known as “the greatest game ever played.”

But Tuesday, former teammates of Alan Ameche, who died Monday of a heart attack, recalled him for his human qualities, as a man who never forgot a friend and remained unimpressed by his considerable achievements in football and in business.

“He was one of the best friends I ever had in football,” said Artie Donovan, a teammate of Ameche for all his six years with the Colts. “He was the first big star I ever played with -- you can’t do any better than the Heisman Trophy. But he never took things seriously.”

“Alan made training camp fun,” said Alex Hawkins, the former Colts receiver who played with Ameche during his final seasons of 1959 and 1960. “He loved to gamble, and we’d bet on anything. Whether Brooks Robinson got a hit, on balls, strikes, even rain coming down a window.”

“The awards and honors never bothered him,” said Johnny Unitas, the Colts quarterback and the man who handed off to Ameche in the Colts’ famed, 23-17 victory over the New York Giants in the 1958 National Football League championship game. “He was a great athlete, a super football player and a regular guy. He was there to do a job, and he did it.”

Jim Parker, the Colts’ renowned guard and tackle in the 1950s and ‘60s, called Ameche “one of my two heroes,” along with baseball star Joe DiMaggio. In particular, Parker recalled fondly how Ameche advised younger players and helped guide them through the transition from college football into their careers in the NFL.

“As a rookie, it was hard for me to get adjusted to Baltimore and professional football. I wasn’t used to doing a lot of things for myself,” Parker said. “He called me over one day and we talked for about an hour. He explained things like no one had. He lifted me up. That was Alan Ameche.”

The man affectionately known as “The Horse,” for his straight-ahead running style and unusual stamina, had been afflicted with heart problems for some time. About 10 years ago, he had heart bypass surgery. Friday, Ameche, who lived in Philadelphia, again underwent a bypass and received a valve replacement at Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center in Houston. He was under the care of Dr. Michael DeBakey, the noted surgeon, when he died in the Texas hospital on Monday afternoon.

During his lifetime, Ameche was a booming success in three different arenas. He had a distinguished college career at the University of Wisconsin, and then went on to play six seasons with the Colts, from 1955 through 1960. When a severed Achilles’ tendon suffered in the 10th game of the 1960 season cut short his pro career, Ameche immersed himself full-time in his burgeoning fast-food business and made a fortune.

It all began in Kenosha, Wis., where Alan Dante Ameche was born June 1, 1933. His parents were Italian immigrants. His father, a mattress-factory worker, never owned a car or his own home, and he did not always approve of his young son’s interest in football. When Alan wanted to try out for the high school team, his father refused to sign a permission slip allowing him to play. (Alan’s brother Lynn solved the problem by forging their dad’s signature.)

Once that obstacle had been overcome, Ameche became a star on various athletic fields. At Kenosha High School, Ameche not only was an All-State fullback, but also the state champion in the shot put. His domination continued at the University of Wisconsin, where, in Ameche’s senior year of 1954, he was the unanimous All-American fullback and he won the Heisman Trophy as the nation’s top college football player.

At Wisconsin, Ameche’s career marks of 3,212 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns were NCAA records, and, in 1975, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

In Baltimore, Ameche will be recalled most fondly as the fullback who joined the Colts when they were struggling toward mediocrity and who, along with a generation of players that included Unitas, Parker, Raymond Berry and Lenny Moore, helped to lift them into the NFL’s elite class.

The Colts’ No. 1 draft choice in the 1955 college draft, Ameche did not wait long to make his presence felt in the Baltimore backfield. In his first game with the Colts -- and on his first pro carry -- Ameche romped for a 79-yard touchdown against the Chicago Bears. It was the beginning of a remarkable rookie season for Ameche, who led the NFL in rushing with 961 yards and was named to the All-Pro team for the first and only time in his career. From a 3-9 recod in 1954, the Colts improved to 5-6-1. Two years later, Ameche, Unitas and company led the Colts to their first winning season. In 1958, Baltimore reigned as the NFL champion.

For Ameche, 1958 was a good season, but not his best. He gained 791 yards, a figure he had surpassed twice in three previous Colts seasons, and logged 171 carries. But events of the regular season paled in comparison with Ameche’s deeds in the Colts’ championship victory over the Giants at a cold, wind-swept Yankee Stadium on Dec. 28, 1958. In the first sudden-death game in pro football history, Ameche carried 14 times for 65 yards and two touchdowns. However, it was his contributions during the Colts’ final drive, which covered 80 yards in 13 plays, that elevated him to a status reserved for the city’s greatest sports heroes.

In the culminating drive, Unitas drove the Colts with a clever mix of passing and running plays, including a 24-yard gallop by Ameche to the New York 20-yard line. Berry then caught a pass at the Giants’ 8, Ameche gained a yard to the 7 and Unitas threw to end Jim Mutscheller, who stepped out at the 1-yard line.

That set the stage for Ameche’s golden moment. Behind key blocks by Moore, Mutscheller and tackle George Preas, Ameche roared into the end zone to end the game, 8:15 into the overtime period.

Typically, Ameche downplayed his role.

“It was the easiest touchdown I made all year,” he said several months later. “I think big Art Donovan could have gone through that hole without any trouble.”

The championship game was a milestone in American sport, and is regarded by many NFL observers as the game that, more than any other, transformed the league into the highly successful enterprise it became in the 1960s. However, Ameche’s friends said he never dwelt on that game or his place in history.

“He was there. He made the thing happen at the right time. And he accepted that,” said Mutscheller. “Then it was time to go on to the next thing.”

“It was just another ballgame to him,” said Parker. “Alan was not a hooray, hooray guy.”

He was, however, an unusual football player.

How many NFL fullbacks have a passion for classical music, as Ameche did?

“He was always a person who loved classical music, symphony, that type of thing,” said Mutscheller.

After his surgery late last week, Mutscheller was told, Ameche was too weak to speak very much, but was able to wink at his wife, Yvonne, and to ask for his earphones. “He loved his music,” Mutscheller said.

How many support charities to the extent Ameche did?

There are many stories about Ameche’s seemingly limitless generosity. Several years ago, for instance, Mutscheller approached his friend seeking support for a local community center. Ameche agreed to meet with Mutscheller and, after reviewing plans for the center, said he’d be willing to pitch in.

“I asked, ‘What amount?’ and he said, ‘Well, put me down for $50,000,’ ” Mutscheller said. “That was Alan. A giving type of person.”

How many football players make their fortunes after they leave the NFL?

Ameche did. He and two friends pooled $20,000 and opened Ameche’s drive-in restaurant on Reisterstown Road in 1957. The rest is hamburger history. “The idea went over with a bang,” said Ameche in a moment of understatement.

In a few years, the partners had six drive-ins around Baltimore, and when former Colt Gino Marchetti joined the firm, they added 42 Gino’s restaurants. By 1965, both ex-football players were well on their way to becoming fast-food tycoons.

But as they grieved yesterday, Ameche’s friends did not remember him for his Heisman Trophy, his historic touchdown or even his multi-millions. Rather, they spoke of a good, decent man whom they will miss.

“He was a leader by example,” said Johnny Unitas.

“One helluva man,” said Alex Hawkins.