Menil Mavraides (born 1931) is a former

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 ...

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 plays ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team in 1954 and 1957. With the nickname "Minnie", he was listed at 6' 2" and 220 lbs.

Early years

Mavraides was born November 17, 1931 in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

. He played for the Lowell High School Red Raiders football team under head coach

Ray Riddick Raymond Ernest Riddick (October 17, 1917 – July 1976) was an American football player and coach. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) as an End (gridiron football), end with the Green Bay Packers from 1940 to 1942 ...

College years

Menil went on to play for Notre Dame from 1950 to 1953. At Notre Dame he played under head coach Frank Leahy, who was the former line coach for the Seven Blocks of Granite where Learhy coached Menil's high school coach Ray Riddick. Here, Mavraides played shoulder-to-shoulder with Tackle

Art Hunter Arthur Hunter (April 24, 1933 – December 25, 2009) was an American football tackle who played twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL), mainly for the Los Angeles Rams. Notre Dame years At Notre Dame he played under head coach Fran ...

, Center

Jim Schrader James Lee Schrader (June 27, 1932 – January 16, 1972) was an American football center and tackle in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles from 1954 to 1964. Schrader attended and played colleg ...

, and

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 ...

Neil Worden as the main blockers for

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

winning

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Johnny Lattner John Joseph Lattner (October 24, 1932 – February 12, 2016) was an American football player. While playing college football for the University of Notre Dame, he won the Heisman Trophy in 1953. He also won the Maxwell Award twice, in 1952 and 1 ...

. During His Sophomore Year, Menil was instrumental in helping the Irish beat the 9-0 Rose Bowl bound

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 ' ...

at home by recovering a late game fumble deep in Trojan territory. His Senior year, the 1953 Notre Dame finished the season 9-0-1 and was runner up to the National Championship, and had an unprecedented 12 players drafted to '54 NFL. Menil also finished his college career being ranked #1 in all

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

with 27pts in kick scoring. In the September 13th, 1954

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

article

Herman Hickman Herman Michael Hickman (October 1, 1911 – April 25, 1958) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Tennessee and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Brooklyn Dodgers. ...

describes the 1953 Notre Dame Team by writing;

Frankly, it's hard to see how any squad could lose such men as Halfback Johnny Lattner, Fullback Neil Worden, Tackle Art Hunter, Center Jim Schrader and Guard Menil Mavraides and still be a top-ranked team. Each was on some All-American or other. Lattner, Worden and Hunter were first-round Pro draft choices. Schrader was a second-round choice. Mavraides a third. But Notre Dame is not an ordinary football team, it's Notre Dame... Notre Dame doesn't lose two often.

Before the start of the 1954 NFL season, Mavraideres, joined four of his Fighting Irish classmates, in the 1954 summer classic

College All-Star Game The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League (NFL) champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year. It was also known as the C ...

, where they lost 31 to 6 to the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

in front of 93,000 fans.

Later years

In 1986, Lowell High school inducted Menil Mavraides into the LHS Athletic Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mavraides, Menil Philadelphia Eagles players 1931 births Living people Sportspeople from Lowell, Massachusetts University of Notre Dame alumni