Jack Anthony "Blackjack" Ferrante (March 9, 1916 – November 23, 2006)
/ref> 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 wi ...
end
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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 ...
who played for the Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...
in 1941 and from 1944 to 1950.
Born in Camden, New Jersey, Ferrante's family moved to South Philadelphia
South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west.[West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...]
; he dropped out of high school in his sophomore year and began working in local supermarkets. He began playing pro football in local leagues in 1934, initially getting $7 per game. He gained a tryout with the Eagles in 1939, and was signed by their farm team, the Wilmington Clippers. After another tryout, Ferrante played three games for the Eagles in 1941, but was sent back to Wilmington until making the Philadelphia roster for good in 1944. He was a member of the Eagles' championship teams in 1948 and 1949. Ferrante had 169 receptions for 2,884 yards and 31 touchdowns in a nine-year career with the Eagles. He retired after his contract was sold to the Detroit Lions in 1950, when the team would not meet his salary demands. In seven seasons he started every game but one and played on three consecutive Eastern Division championship teams and two consecutive NFL championship teams. His best game was in 1948 when he had 184 yards and 3 touchdowns against Detroit. He holds an Eagles record for three consecutive games with touchdowns of more than 60 yards. He was also elected to the 1940s NFL All-Decade Team. He became a salesman for a brewing company, and later served as a volunteer coach at Monsignor Bonner High School, leading the school to its first Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
city championship in 1959 as well as a second title in 1961. He also became the head coach of the Wilmington Comets during the 1965 season in Wilmington, Delaware. The Wilmington Comets competed in the North American Football League, a new professional league which had franchises in Pittsburgh, Wilmington, Baltimore/Annapolis, Mobile(AL), Lakeland (FL), and Huntsville (AL). The Comets had an affiliation with the Philadelphia Eagles, and later became the Pottstown Firebirds, when the franchise was moved to Pottstown (PA), and were featured in an NFL films feature film. Ferrante retired from his sales position in 1977, and died at age 90 in Yardley, Pennsylvania
Yardley is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Yardley borders the Delaware River and Ewing, New Jersey to its east and Lower Makefield Township to its north, west, and south. The United States Post Office assigns many addresses in Lower Ma ...
.
References
External links
Professional Football Researchers Association biography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrante, Jack
1916 births
2006 deaths
American football wide receivers
American football defensive ends
Philadelphia Eagles players
Players of American football from Camden, New Jersey
Wilmington Clippers players