Achille Fred "Chick" Maggioli (May 17, 1922 – December 20, 2012) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and halfback in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

and the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

. He also played in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

(AAFC) for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. Born in Mishawaka, Indiana, Maggioli was an all-state football player at Mishawaka High School, graduating in 1941. He then attended and played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

in 1942. He joined the Marine Corps Officer Training Program in 1943, which transferred him to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

, where he played football in 1943 and 1944. At Notre Dame, he was the reserve halfback on coach Frank Leahy's national champion

1943 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team The 1943 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1943 college football season. The Irish, coached by Frank Leahy, ended the season with 9 wins and 1 loss, winning the national championship. Th ...

and a starting halfback in 1944. Called to active duty before the end of the 1944 season, he served in the Marine Corps and was awarded the Purple Heart at the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

. Returning from World War II, Maggioli played halfback on the

1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team The 1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois in the 1946 Big Nine Conference football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled an 8–2 reco ...

, which won the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and the

1947 Rose Bowl The 1947 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game. It was the 33rd Rose Bowl Game. The Illinois Fighting Illini defeated the UCLA Bruins, 45–14. Illinois halfbacks Buddy Young and Jules Rykovich shared the Rose Bowl Player Of The Game awa ...

, graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that May. Maggioli was drafted in the 11th round of the

1946 NFL Draft The 1946 National Football League Draft was held on January 14, 1946, at the Commodore Hotel in New York City, New York. The selections were initially withheld from the public out of fear that the newly formed All-America Football Conference wou ...

by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and ultimately played for the Buffalo Bills as a two-way player in 1948, his team winning the Eastern Division of the AAFL. He played defensive back for the Detroit Lions in 1949 and with the Baltimore Colts in 1950, intercepting eight passes in the final year of his pro football career. He is a member of both the Indiana Football Hall of Fame and Mishawaka High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

References

1922 births 2012 deaths American football defensive backs American football halfbacks Baltimore Colts (1947–1950) players Buffalo Bills (AAFC) players Detroit Lions players Illinois Fighting Illini football players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Marines People from Mishawaka, Indiana Players of American football from Indiana {{runningback-1920s-stub