Joseph Charles DiVito (born September 2, 1945) is a former American collegiate and professional
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 ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
and
punter for the
Boston College Eagles
The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisio ...
and the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
of the
American Football League
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
.
College career
DiVito played at Boston College from 1965–1967. He completed 80 of 180 passes for 1,138 yards, 14
touchdowns
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...
, and 6
interceptions
In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...
. He was a team captain and, in addition to playing quarterback, also played as a punter.
Professional career
Denver Broncos
DiVito was 1 of 8 quarterbacks to try out for the American Football League's Denver Broncos in 1968, including
Steve Tensi
Stephen Michael Tensi (born December 8, 1942) is a former professional American football quarterback in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). He played for the San Diego Chargers (1965–1966) and the Denver ...
,
Jim LeClair
James Michael LeClair (October 30, 1950 – November 4, 2019) was an American football player and coach. He played professionally as a linebacker for 12 seasons, from 1972 to 1983, in the National Football League (NFL) with the Cincinnati Benga ...
,
John McCormick, and
Marlin Briscoe
Marlin Oliver Briscoe (September 10, 1945 – June 27, 2022), nicknamed "the Magician", was an American professional football player who was a quarterback and wide receiver in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football Leagu ...
. He was named the backup quarterback behind incumbent
starter Steve Tensi. After Tensi broke his
collarbone
The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the right ...
, DiVito got his chance to be the Broncos #1 quarterback. He completed only 1 of 6 passes for 16 yards before being replaced by
wide receiver/
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 ...
Marlin Briscoe. He also completed 8
punts for a total of 242 yards and a net average of 30.3 yards per punt.
Hartford Knights
He was cut following the 1969
training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...
and signed with the
Hartford Knights
The Hartford Knights were a professional American football team based in Hartford, Connecticut. They began play in 1968 as a member of the Atlantic Coast Football League, replacing the Hartford Charter Oaks. For the 1969 season, they became the af ...
of the
Atlantic Coast Football League
The Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) was a professional american football minor league that operated from 1962 to 1973. Until 1969, many of its franchises had working agreements with NFL and AFL teams to serve as farm clubs. The league pai ...
in 1970
PQ Archiver
See also
* Other American Football League players, coaches, and contributors
References
1945 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Lynn, Massachusetts
American football quarterbacks
American football punters
Boston College Eagles football players
Denver Broncos (AFL) players
{{Quarterback-1940s-stub