John Rocco "Bulldog" Panelli (May 7, 1926 – March 2, 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. He played college football at 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 ...

. He went on to play two 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) for the Detroit Lions, and another three for the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ...

. Born and raised in Morristown, New Jersey, Panelli starred at

Morristown High School Morristown High School (MHS) is a four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from three communities in Morris County, United States, operating as part of the Morris School District. The school serves students ...

, earning all-state honors as a student and a nomination by ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...

'' decades after his graduation for inclusion on its All-Century team. Panelli died after a sudden illness on March 2, 2012. He was 85.

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* * 1926 births 2012 deaths American football fullbacks American football linebackers Detroit Lions players Chicago Cardinals players Morristown High School (Morristown, New Jersey) alumni Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players People from Morristown, New Jersey Sportspeople from Oakland County, Michigan Players of American football from New Jersey Sportspeople from Morris County, New Jersey {{Amfoot-bio-stub