Dick Chorovich (November 28, 1932 – July 15, 1997) 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 tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. ''The Journal Herald'' called him "the biggest football player in the history of Miami university." He played for 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 ...

from 1955 to 1956 and for the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960. In his autobiography, NFL Hall of Famer Art Donovan had the following extremely high praise for Chorovich, his teammate with the Colts: "We had an offensive lineman named Dick Chorovich, who came along in 1955, and I swear, this guy could have been the greatest lineman to ever play the game. Chorovich had it all—size, speed, and a mean streak a mile wide. We used to joke that the Colts were hiding the fact that they had drafted him out of Joliet State Prison. With our defensive line, any rookie offensive lineman who came along was guaranteed to take a beating. But this kid Chorovich was pushing guys like me and Gino archettiaround like we were goddamn high-school kids. Anyway, Chorovich was from Miami of Ohio, and that's where Weeb wbankhad begun his coaching career. And Weeb hated this kid because he was a real wise guy. Plus, I think Weeb just wanted to be the biggest name to come out of Miami of Ohio. He ran Dick Chorovich ragged, and after two seasons, he ran him right out of the league. He took the worst beating of any rookie lineman ever to come to a Colt camp." Nonetheless, Chorovich did make a comeback in 1960, playing all 14 games and starting 12 for the Los Angeles Chargers, en route to their first-place finish in the AFL West. He was even named the AFL's Defensive Player of the Week after the Chargers' Week-6 victory over the Broncos. After that game, Denver quarterback Frank Tripucka told reporters, "That Chorovich was the toughest lineman I've operated against this season."

References

1932 births 1997 deaths People from St. Clairsville, Ohio Players of American football from Belmont County, Ohio American football defensive tackles Miami RedHawks football players Baltimore Colts players Los Angeles Chargers players {{Defensive-lineman-1930s-stub