Charles James Cherundolo, Jr. (August 8, 1916 – December 22, 2012) 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 and coach. He played

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

for ten seasons 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 ...

(NFL) with the

Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to 19 ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

and Pittsburgh Steelers. He was born in Old Forge, Pennsylvania.

Playing career

Cherundolo played college football at Penn State, where he was a voted a

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

in 1936. He was named

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 ...

at Penn State. He went on to play ten seasons in the NFL.

Coaching career

Cherundolo was hired by the Steelers as an assistant coach upon the end of his playing career. He coached with the Steelers from 1949 through 1958, leaving football in 1959. Cherundolo returned to the Steelers in 1960 as a part-time scout and returned as a full-time assistant coach for the 1961 season. He went on to coach for the Philadelphia Eagles with head coach and friend Nick Skorich in 1962 and 1963, then went on to coach with the Washington Redskins until 1966, when he coached for the Chicago Bears for a total of eight years, interrupted by a one-year coaching job for the

Tri-City Apollos The Tri-City Apollos were a professional American football team based in Midland, Michigan. Early years An earlier team known as the Macomb Arrows began in 1962, playing in Pontiac, Michigan in the semi-pro Midwest Football League. After winning ...

Midland, Michigan Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Michigan. The city's population was 42,547 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Midland Micropolitan Statistical Area, part of the larger Saginaw-Midland-Bay City Com ...

. He coached a total of 22 years in the NFL with four teams.

Awards and honors

Cherundolo was selected to two NFL All-Star Teams during his playing career. He was named second-team All-NFL in three seasons. In 2007, as part of the team's 75th anniversary commemoration, the Steelers named him as the center on their Legends team. The team represents the best players in the franchise's history through 1970.

Personal life

Cherundolo married Margaret Whitehead; the couple had two children, Patricia and John. Both his son and grandson played football at the Division I level. At the time of his death in 2012, he was the fourth-oldest living professional football player.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherundolo, Chuck 1916 births 2012 deaths American football centers American football linebackers Cleveland Rams players Continental Football League coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football players Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers players Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Philadelphia Eagles coaches Washington Redskins coaches People from Old Forge, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania