Sebastian Paul Costa (December 7, 1941 – October 12, 2015) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

. He played college football for the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Divisi ...

. The American Football League (AFL)'s

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

drafted him in his junior year,

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

, and he was traded to the AFL's Buffalo Bills for the 1965 season. He won a starting job at tight end his rookie year with the Bills, and soon became an excellent tight end, being named an AFL All-Star in his first two seasons. As a rookie, Costa averaged 19.1 yards per catch. For his career, he averaged 16.7 yards per catch. In his first year, in the 1965

AFL Championship For its first nine seasons, 1960 through 1968, the American Football League determined its champion via a single playoff game between the winners of its two divisions (although ties in the standings in 1963 (Eastern) and 1968 (Western) necessitat ...

game against the San Diego Chargers, he teamed with

Ernie Warlick Ernest "Ernie" "Big Hoss" Warlick (July 21, 1932 – November 24, 2012) was a tight end from North Carolina Central University who played American collegiate and Professional Football as well as Canadian Professional Football. Warlick was born ...

in one of the first uses of the "double tight end" formation installed by

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Lou Saban Louis Henry Saban (October 13, 1921 – March 29, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He played for Indiana University in college and as a professional for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference between 1946 a ...

. Costa caught two passes for 32 yards, Warlick caught three for 35 yards and a

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 Amer ...

as the Bills defeated the Chargers for the second consecutive year, this time shutting them out 23 - 0, the first

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

game history. In Costa's fifth year in pro football, he moved to offensive tackle and played that position for four years. After playing eight years for the Bills, he retired for one year, then came out of retirement to play for the

Birmingham Americans The Birmingham Americans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the four-team Central Division of the World Football League (WFL). The Americans, founded in late December 1973, played in th ...

of the World Football League in 1974 and

Birmingham Vulcans The Birmingham Vulcans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the five-team Eastern Division of the World Football League (WFL). The Vulcans, founded in March 1975, played in the upstart lea ...

in 1975. Costa earned a B.A. degree in Communications from Notre Dame. He also held a Masters and Ph.D. from the California Graduate School of Theology. Paul was a full-time minister since retiring from football. He was a pastor for sixteen years, and traveled nationally and internationally as a speaker in churches, conferences, and schools. He co-authored a book with Dr. John Kelly (End Time Warriors) that was published by Regal Book. He died of complications of prostate cancer on October 12, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Paul 1941 births 2015 deaths People from Port Chester, New York Players of American football from Westchester County, New York American football tight ends Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Buffalo Bills players Birmingham Americans players Birmingham Vulcans players American Football League players American Football League All-Star players

See also

References