Nicholas Bucci Sr. (February 10, 1932 – February 8, 2019) 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 ...

back. He was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame for his play at

Claymont High School Claymont High School is a public high school in Uhrichsville, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Claymont City Schools district. Ohio High School Athletic Association state championships * Boys Wrestling – 1992 * Girls Basketball – 1 ...

, where he was the first "Delaware Athlete of the Year" after leading the state with 149 points in 1949. He later played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

before spending three years with the Marcus Hook Athletic Association of the Wilmington Football League, winning two championships.

Early life and high school

Bucci was born on February 10, 1932, in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

, to James and Anna Bucci (diGiorgio). He attended

, where he played

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 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

, earning a total of 14

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

s. Bucci was named to the ''Journal-Every Evening'' all-state football team twice in his career, and was the first two-time selection. His coach described him as "the best running back I ever had," and Claymont's "best blocker, one of our best tacklers, our best passer, and a fair punter." As a senior, he helped the team compile an undefeated record, scoring 149 of the their 250 points (including 23

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s) and leading the state in scoring. For this, he was named the first "Delaware Athlete of the Year," but did not receive the award due to rules of the Delaware Association of School Administrators which declared that high school athletes are ineligible to receive the award.

College and semi-professional career

After receiving offers from

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

, and

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, Bucci accepted a scholarship from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in 1950. He played on their freshman football team that year, but "got homesick," and returned to his home state of Delaware in 1951. He then enrolled at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

, playing part of one season before leaving the school. After leaving the University of Delaware, Bucci joined the independent Marcus Hook Athletic Association in October 1951. He returned to the team for their 1952 season, as a member of the Wilmington Football League, and helped them achieve an undefeated 7–0 record and the league championship title. He also played for their 1953 championship team before being sent to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Later life and death

After serving three years in the Navy, Bucci worked for the Phoenix Steel Corporation for 36 years, and later at Sears and in the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

security. He also worked for the New Castle County crossing guards until his retirement at the age of 80. With his wife, Tina, Bucci had three children. His only son, Nick Jr., was described as the "direct opposite" of Nick Sr., never playing sports and instead being a musician. Bucci was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 2004. Bucci died on February 8, 2019, at the age of 86 in the

Wilmington Hospital ChristianaCare is a network of private, non-profit hospitals providing health care services to all of the U.S. state of Delaware and portions of seven counties bordering the state in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. The system includes two h ...

. It was two days before what would have been his 87th birthday.

Early life and high school

College and semi-professional career

Later life and death

References

Further reading