Anthony Francis Matisi (August 23, 1914August 26, 1969) was an All-American

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 ...

player. Matisi was born in New York City in 1914 and graduated from Union High School in Endicott, New York. He 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 the University of Pittsburgh from 1934 to 1937. He helped lead the undefeated

1937 Pittsburgh Panthers football team The 1937 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1937 college football season. In its 14th season under head coach Jock Sutherland, the team compiled a 9–0–1 record, shut out six of its ten opponents ...

to a national championship and was a consensus first-team pick at the tackle position on the 1937 All-America college football team. Matisi was six-feet, two-inches tall, and weighed 230 pounds. Matisi was selected by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in the fourth round (29th overall pick) of the 1938 NFL Draft. He played for 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 1938, appearing in five games. Matisi later received a dental degree from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery and worked as a dentist in Endicott and

Oswego, New York Oswego () is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in Upstate New York, about 35 miles (55km) northwest of Syracuse. It promotes itself as "The Port C ...

. He died at age 55 in 1969 after a long illness at his home in Endicott.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matisi, Tony 1914 births 1969 deaths All-American college football players Players of American football from New York City American football tackles Pittsburgh Panthers football players Detroit Lions players