Leonard Patrick "Meatball" Simonetti (November 20, 1919 – August 14, 1973) 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 ...

tackle who played three seasons in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

(AAFC) between 1946 and 1948 for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. Simonetti was a standout as a

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

at his

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

high school before switching to tackle while at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

in the late 1930s and early 1940s. After a stint in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Simonetti signed with the Browns. Cleveland won the AAFC championship in 1946, repeating in 1947 and 1948. Simonetti was sent to 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 ...

in 1949, but did not play for the team. After leaving football, he became a weighmaster in Ohio. He died of a heart attack in 1973.

High school and college

Simonetti played high school football at

New Philadelphia High School New Philadelphia High School is a public high school in New Philadelphia, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1913 as Central High School, New Philadelphia High School is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools an ...

New Philadelphia, Ohio New Philadelphia is a city in and the county seat of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States. The county's largest city, New Philadelphia lies along the Tuscarawas River. The population was 17,677 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city in the ...

, where he was an all-Ohio

on teams coached by

John Brickels John Lewis "Stub" Brickels ( – ) was a high school, college and professional football coach who served as a backfield coach for the Cleveland Browns between 1946 and 1948. Brickels began his coaching career in 1930, after graduating from Wittenb ...

. He enrolled at the

and continued to play football for the

Volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

between 1939 and 1941. The team finished the 1940 season with an 8–2

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

and advanced to the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

in 1941, losing 19–13 to

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

. Simonetti enlisted in the

during

and served in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Professional career

Brickels, Simonetti's old high school coach, in 1945 became an assistant for the

, a new team in the

(AAFC). Brickels recruited Simonetti to play for the team when Simonetti was still serving in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

. Simonetti joined the Browns when the team started play in 1946, but was a reserve and did not appear in any games during the regular season. Cleveland finished the year with a 12–2 record and advanced to the AAFC championship. Team captain

Jim Daniell James Lachlan "Big Jim" Daniell (April 10, 1918December 13, 1983) was an American football offensive tackle and defensive tackle, a World War II veteran, and a steel company executive. He played two years in the National Football League (NFL) an ...

, however, was dismissed from the team the week before the title game after getting arrested following an altercation with Cleveland police. Cleveland head coach

Paul Brown Paul Eugene Brown (September 7, 1908 – August 5, 1991) was an American football coach and executive in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Brown was both the co-founder and first coach of the Clevela ...

got permission from the league to use Simonetti in the game as Daniell's replacement. The Browns beat the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, 14–9. Simonetti saw more playing time in 1947 after tackle

Lou Rymkus Louis Joseph "the Battler" Rymkus (November 6, 1919 – October 31, 1998) was an American football player and coach in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). Playing as ...

suffered an eye infection. The Browns finished the regular season with a 12–1–1 win-loss-tie record and again won the championship. Simonetti stayed with the team for a final season in 1948, when the Browns won all of their games and a third straight championship. After the season, Simonetti was commissioned as deputy sheriff of

Tuscarawas County, Ohio Tuscarawas County ( ) is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 93,263. Its county seat is New Philadelphia. Its name is a Delaware Indian word variously translated as "ol ...

. He was sold to the

in January 1949 along with

Ben Pucci Benito Modesto "Ben" Pucci ( – ) was a professional American football tackle who played three seasons for the Buffalo Bisons, Chicago Rockets and Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) between 1946 and 1948. Pucci ...

and Don Stanton. He left football, however, before playing a game for the team.

Later life and death

After his football career, Simonetti worked as a weighmaster for the state of Ohio in Bolivar. He was injured in a car accident in 1971 and died two years later of a heart attack. He and his wife Florence had one child.

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simonetti, Lenny 1919 births 1973 deaths Cleveland Browns (AAFC) players People from Tuscarawas County, Ohio United States Army personnel of World War II