January 20, 2009(2009-01-20) (aged 85) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Height:
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:
191 lb (87 kg)
Career information
High school:
Hudson
College:
Ohio State (1942)
NFL draft:
1947 / Round: 12 / Pick: 103
Career history
Cleveland Browns (1946–1956)
Career highlights and awards
3× NFL champion (1950, 1954, 1955)
4× AAFC champion (1946–1949)
3× First-team All-Pro (1946, 1947, 1953)
2× Second-team All-Pro (1948, 1949)
3× Pro Bowl (1951, 1953, 1954)
AAFC receptions co-leader (1946)
AAFC receiving yards leader (1946)
NFL 1940s All-Decade Team
Cleveland Browns Ring of Honor
National champion (1942)
Career AAFC/NFL statistics
Receptions:
386
Receiving yards:
6,488
Receiving touchdowns:
62
Military career
Allegiance
United States
Service/branch
U.S. Army
Years of service
1942–1945
Unit
28th Infantry Division
Battles/wars
World War II
European Theater
Normandy Invasion
Battle of the Bulge
Siege of Bastogne
Player stats at PFR
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Dante Bert Joseph Lavelli (February 23, 1923 – January 20, 2009), nicknamed "Gluefingers", was an American professional football end who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1956. Starring alongside quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley, kicker Lou Groza and fellow receiver Mac Speedie, Lavelli was an integral part of a Browns team that won seven championships during his 11-season career. Lavelli was known for his sure hands and improvisations on the field. He was also renowned for making catches in critical situations, earning the nickname "Mr. Clutch". Browns head coach Paul Brown once said of him: "Lavelli had one of the strongest pairs of hands I've ever seen, when he went up for a pass with a defender, you could almost always count on him coming back down with the ball."[1]
Lavelli grew up in Hudson, Ohio and played football, baseball and basketball at his local high school. After graduating, he enrolled at Ohio State University, where he played only a handful of games before he was drafted for service in the U.S. Army during World War II. Returning in 1945 after serving in Europe, he joined the Browns in the team's first-ever season in the AAFC. Helped by Lavelli's play, the Browns won each of the AAFC's championships before the league dissolved in 1949 and the team was absorbed by the NFL. Cleveland continued to succeed in the NFL, winning championships in 1950, 1954 and 1955. Lavelli, who helped found the National Football League Players Association toward the end of his career, retired after the 1956 season.
After retiring from football, Lavelli held a variety of coaching and scouting jobs and was active in NFL alumni affairs. He also ran a furniture store in Rocky River, Ohio. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1975. He died in a Cleveland hospital in 2009.
Dante Bert Joseph Lavelli (February 23, 1923 – January 20, 2009), nicknamed "Gluefingers", was an American professional football end who played for the...
Lavelli is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Cecilia Lavelli (1906–1998), Italian artist DanteLavelli (1923–2009), American football...
featured quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley, and ends DanteLavelli and Mac Speedie. Cleveland began the season with a win against the Philadelphia...
out. The next play turned a close game into a rout; Otto Graham found DanteLavelli with a 50-yard touchdown pass along the sideline and the Rams, who moments...
his life: All-American Accordionist and Accordion Classics. Lavelli's cousin, DanteLavelli, played for the Cleveland Browns in the 1940s and 1950s and...
Division. Led by quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley and ends DanteLavelli and Mac Speedie, the team won the first AAFC championship game against...
composed mainly of players hand-picked by Brown, including Bill Willis, DanteLavelli and star halfback Les Horvath. In the middle of the season, the Buckeyes...
quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley and ends Mac Speedie and DanteLavelli, the Browns followed with a string of victories leading up to a November...
joined quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley and receivers DanteLavelli and Mac Speedie to form the core of the new team's offense. Groza was...
LT Abe Gibron, LG Frank Gatski, C Chuck Noll, RG John Sandusky, RT DanteLavelli, RE Otto Graham, QB Ray Renfro, LHB Billy Reynolds, RHB Maurice Bassett...
San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman and later offensive line coach DanteLavelli Dave Wyman Dick Hartley Enoch Brown Erik Lorig Frank Juhan Gene Washington...
quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley and fellow receiver DanteLavelli. The Browns, a new team in the AAFC, won the league championship every...
quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley and ends Mac Speedie and DanteLavelli and a defense that featured linebacker Bill Willis and defensive back...
NFLPA began when two players from the Cleveland Browns, Abe Gibron and DanteLavelli, approached a lawyer and former Notre Dame football player, Creighton...
offense led by quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley and end DanteLavelli.: 177–182 Shula was joined in the Browns' training camp by John Carroll...
Jurevicius Sammy Kaye Don King Bobby Knight Heather Kozar Dennis Kucinich DanteLavelli Mike Lebowitz Gerald Levert D. A. Levy Bob Lewis Peter B. Lewis Jim...
touchdown in the second quarter, this time a 37-yard pass from Graham to Lavelli. Groza's extra point attempt failed, however, because of a high snap, putting...
Izzo (born 1995) Daryle Lamonica (born 1941) Sam LaPorta (born 2001) DanteLavelli (1923–2009) Augie Lio (1918–1989) Tony Liscio (1940–2017) Lou Little...
baseball player and manager Hank Lauricella, college football player DanteLavelli, football player Tony Lazzeri, baseball player Jean Lenti-Ponsetto,...
led an offensive attack that featured fullback Marion Motley, ends DanteLavelli, and Mac Speedie. After a number of coaching changes and roster moves...
offense. Handing the ball to fullback Marion Motley and throwing to ends DanteLavelli and Mac Speedie, Graham led the team to a 12–2 regular-season record...
Global Information
