Nello Donald Falaschi (March 19, 1913 – July 29, 1986) 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 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 ...

for the New York Giants. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971.

Early life

Falaschi was born in

Dos Palos, California Dos Palos (Spanish for "Two Timbers") is a city in Merced County, California, United States. Dos Palos is located south-southwest of Merced, the county seat, at an elevation of . The population was 5,798 at the 2020 census, up from 4,950 at th ...

and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

at Bellarmine College Preparatory in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

College career

After high school, Falaschi attended and played college football at Santa Clara University, where he played

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 ...

. While there, he led them to a victory in the 1937 Sugar Bowl and was named an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

Professional career

Falaschi was drafted in the second round of the

1937 NFL Draft The 1937 National Football League Draft was the second draft held by the National Football League (NFL). The draft took place December 12, 1936, at the Hotel Lincoln in New York City. The draft consisted of 10 rounds, with 100 player selections ...

by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, but played his entire professional career with the New York Giants, where he was named to three

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

After football

After retiring, Falaschi established a construction company in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

References

External links

* 1913 births 1986 deaths American football quarterbacks New York Giants players Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils football players Santa Clara Broncos football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Merced County, California Players of American football from San Jose, California {{collegefootball-player-stub