James Carl Vellone (August 20, 1944 - August 21, 1977) was a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

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). Vellone spent his entire five-year career for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

, starting in most of his appearances during this span. Vellone helped the Vikings win the 1969 NFL Championship and also started in

Super Bowl IV Super Bowl IV was an American football game played on January 11, 1970 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the fourth and final AFL–NFL World Championship Game in professional football prior to the AFL–NFL merger taking eff ...

, the first Super Bowl appearance for the Vikings franchise. Vellone's career and life were cut short due to Hodgkin's lymphoma.

College career

Before he joined the pro leagues, Vellone 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 ...

for two years at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. Prior to joining the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

, Vellone was a Junior College All-American guard at Cerritos College. For two seasons while in Minnesota (1968–1969), Vellone was a teammate of

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

Ron Yary Anthony Ronald Yary (born July 16, 1946) is an American former professional football player who played as an offensive tackle primarily for the Minnesota Vikings and also for the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League (NFL). He was ...

, who likewise was a star lineman at Cerritos College and at USC.

Death

Jim Vellone abruptly retired from the NFL in 1971 when he discovered he had Hodgkin's lymphoma. He spent the final six years of his life undergoing treatments and chemotherapy. Although managing to live a normal life for some time, Vellone finally succumbed to the cancerous disease on August 21, 1977, a day after his 33rd birthday, at St. Joseph's Hospital in

Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...

. According to a brief article in the ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'' ( Fla.) newspaper two days after his death, friends said that Vellone checked into St. Joseph's, due to breathing problems. Jim Vellone left behind two sons Eric and John, brother Louis, and parents

Other

Jim's high school alma mater named their Athlete of the Year award after him. The award's recipients included Greg Langford (Wrestling, 1972), Paul Phillips (Swimming, 1973), and Bill Qualls (Cross Country and Track, 1974).

References

External links

Pro Football Reference: Jim Vellone
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vellone, Jim 1944 births 1977 deaths Cerritos Falcons football players Minnesota Vikings players USC Trojans football players American football offensive guards People from Jacksonville, North Carolina Deaths from Hodgkin lymphoma Deaths from cancer in California