James 'Bucky' Mutscheller (March 31, 1930 – April 10, 2015) 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 ...

player who played

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

for nine seasons for the Baltimore Colts.

Early life and education

Mutscheller was born on March 31, 1930, in

Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Beaver Falls is a city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 9,005 at the 2020 census. Located 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, the city lies along the Beaver River, six miles (9 km) north of its c ...

, where he played football, basketball, and baseball at

Beaver Falls High School Beaver Falls High School is a public high school in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the only high school in the Big Beaver Falls Area School District. Athletic teams compete as the Beaver Falls Tigers in the Western Pennsylvani ...

. He then played three seasons of football at Notre Dame under coach

Frank Leahy Francis William Leahy (August 27, 1908 – June 21, 1973) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1939 to 1940 and at ...

from 1949 to 1951, including on the 1949 national championship team. Mutscheller played both

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

and offense for the

Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Divisi ...

, and served as team captain his senior year.

Professional football

The

New York Yanks The New York Yanks were an American football team that played in the National Football League under that name in the 1950 and 1951 seasons. Season by season overview 1949 The team began in 1944 as the Boston Yanks, owned by Kate Smith's manag ...

drafted Mutscheller, but by the time his two-year stint in the

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

ended, the Baltimore Colts had acquired his contract. Mutscheller played for the Colts from 1954 to 1961, amassing 220 catches, 3685 yards, and 40 touchdowns.

Accolades

In 1976, Mutscheller was inducted into the inaugural class of the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame.

Death

He died of kidney failure on April 10, 2015 in

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincor ...

at age 85.

References

1930 births 2015 deaths American football tight ends Baltimore Colts announcers Baltimore Colts players National Football League announcers Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players People from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Beaver County, Pennsylvania Western Conference Pro Bowl players {{tightend-1930s-stub