Pasquale "Pat" Abbruzzi (August 29, 1932 – June 3, 1998) was an American

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

and professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

and a successful

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 ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. Abbruzzi played collegiately for the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...

(Class of 1955), and professionally for the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...

for four years ( 1955–

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Early life and college career

Abbruzzi was born and raised in Warren, Rhode Island and is the younger brother of former NFL player, Lou "Duke" Abbruzzi. Abbruzzi attended Warren High School and went on to the University of Rhode Island following graduation. As a member of the

Rams football team, from 1951 to 1954, he was an all star running back. He rushed 562 times for a school record 3389 yards (6 yard per carry average) and 25 touchdowns. His greatest and record setting day was October 4, 1952, versus New Hampshire (a 27-7 win). In this game, Abbruzzi rushed for 306 yards, including a 99-yard run from scrimmage, both school records. He also scored 3 TDs. He was named All-

Yankee Conference The Yankee Conference was a collegiate sports conference in the eastern United States. From 1947 to 1976, it sponsored competition in many sports, but was a American football, football-only league from mid-1976 until its dissolution in 1996. It is ...

each of these years and named a New England All-Star from 1952 to 1954.

Professional football career

Abbruzzi was drafted twice by the Baltimore Colts of the NFL in 1954 (30th round, 352 overall) and 1955 (13th round, 147 overall). Abbruzzi chose the

of the

for a pro career, mostly because they offered him a $500 bonus which he used for his honeymoon. In four years with the Alouettes, 1955 to 1958, he played 49 regular season games and 2 Grey Cup matches (against the Edmonton Eskimos.) He rushed 700 times for a total of 3749 yards (5.4 yard average) with 25 rushing TDs and eleven 100 yard rushing games. Abbruzzi's greatest year was his first in the CFL, 1955, when he was part of a dynamic Als team that contended for the 1955 Grey Cup. Abbruzzi rushed 182 times and led the CFL in rushing with 1,248 yards (6.9 yard average) and in touchdowns with 17 (his longest rush was 69 yards). Abbruzzi was named the second recipient of the

CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award The Most Outstanding Player Award is annually awarded to the best player in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Terry Evanshen Trophy winner from the East Division, and the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy winner from ...

, as well as a CFL All-Star, at the conclusion of the 1955 season. Abbruzzi continued as the Larks top rusher in 1956 with 1,062 yards and was named to a second consecutive CFL All-Star team in 1956. His 20 touchdowns that year stood alone as a CFL record until 1990 and was finally surpassed by

Allen Pitts Allen Pitts (born June 28, 1964) is a former receiver for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League from 1990 to 2000. He attended Cal-State Fullerton and played his entire professional career as a receiver for the Calgary Stampeders. ...

in 1994. In 1957, Abbruzzi had 809 yards, but an injury-plagued 1958 season would turn out to be his last, when Abbruzzi finished the year with 630 yards. In July 1959 he was traded to the Calgary Stampeders for Veryl Switzer during training camp but was released before the start of the 1959 regular season.

Career regular season rushing statistics

https://www.statscrew.com/football/stats/p-abbrupat001

Teaching career and high school coaching career

After his professional career, Abbruzzi became a successful and much beloved Physical Education teacher and football coach at his alma mater, Warren High School in Warren, Rhode Island. He coached eight division champions over 26 years, and also coached baseball in his spare time. During the 1970s his football team set an interscholastic league record of 31 victories in a row. Known to all as "Doc", he was a legendary figure in Rhode Island high school football. Abbruzzi was named to the

University of Rhode Island Athletic Hall of Fame A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

in 1972 and the

Rhode Island Football Coaches Hall of Fame Rhode may refer to: *In Greek mythology: :*Rhodos, goddess and personification of the island of Rhodes :*Rhode, one of the fifty daughters of Danaus * ''Rhode'' (spider), a genus of spiders *Rhode (surname) *Rhode, County Offaly, an Irish town *Rh ...

in 1976. He was a charter member of the

Warren Athletic Hall of Fame A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Anglo ...

(1998) and in 2005 Pat was named to the

Rhode Island Interscholastic League Hall of Fame Rhode may refer to: *In Greek mythology: :*Rhodos, goddess and personification of the island of Rhodes :*Rhode, one of the fifty daughters of Danaus * ''Rhode'' (spider), a genus of spiders *Rhode (surname) *Rhode, County Offaly, an Irish town *Rh ...

. He was later elected to the Sons of Italy Athletic Hall of Fame.

Death

Pat Abbruzzi died on June 3, 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbruzzi, Pat 1932 births 1998 deaths People from Warren, Rhode Island Players of American football from Rhode Island American football running backs Rhode Island Rams football players Players of Canadian football from Rhode Island Canadian football running backs Montreal Alouettes players Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Player Award winners Coaches of American football from Rhode Island High school football coaches in Rhode Island