John Sandusky
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John Thomas "Sandy" Sandusky, Jr. (December 28, 1925 – March 5, 2006) 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 with ...
player and coach. He played seven seasons as an
offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
and
defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...
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) during the 1950s for the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
and the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
before starting a 36-year career as an assistant coach. He was head coach of the Baltimore Colts for part of the 1972 season. Sandusky grew up in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and attended the nearby
Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...
. He played tackle on Villanova's football team and was named a first-team
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 ...
n in 1949, his
senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...
year. The Browns selected him in the second round of the 1950 NFL Draft. Sandusky played six seasons for the Browns, who won NFL championships in 1950, 1954 and 1955 behind an offense that featured
quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Otto Graham Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Graha ...
and
end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...
Dante Lavelli Dante Bert Joseph "Gluefingers" Lavelli (February 23, 1923 – January 20, 2009) was an American professional football player who was an end for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NF ...
. He spent the 1956 season with the Packers before ending his playing career. Sandusky started coaching at Villanova for two years before being hired as an assistant with the Baltimore Colts in 1959. He spent 13 seasons in Baltimore overseeing the offensive and defensive lines under head coaches
Weeb Ewbank Wilbur Charles "Weeb" Ewbank (May 6, 1907 – November 17, 1998) was an American professional football coach. He led the Baltimore Colts to consecutive NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 and the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III in Janu ...
,
Don Shula Donald Francis Shula (January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American football defensive back and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins for most of his ca ...
and Don McCafferty. Led by quarterback
Johnny Unitas John Constantine Unitas (; May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Colts. Following a career that spanned from 1956 ...
, the Colts won an
NFL championship Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...
in 1959 and beat the
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
to win
Super Bowl V Super Bowl V was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to determine the National Football League (NFL) champio ...
in 1970. When McCafferty was fired midway through the 1972 season, Sandusky replaced him as head coach. Sandusky himself was fired after the season, however, and went on to spend three years as an assistant for the
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 plays ...
, followed by 19 seasons with the
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...
under Shula. His son
Gerry Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice presi ...
is a radio broadcaster in Baltimore and calls
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
games.


Early life and college

Sandusky, who was of
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
and
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
heritage, grew up in
South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west.South Philadelphia High School South Philadelphia High School is a public secondary high school located in the Lower Moyamensing neighborhood of South Philadelphia, at the intersection of Broad Street and Snyder Avenue. The school serves grades 9 through 12 and is part of th ...
. After graduating in 1945, and serving his country in World War II, he enrolled at
Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...
outside of Philadelphia, where he was a starting tackle for four years. Villanova had winning records in each year Sandusky played there between 1946 and 1949 under head coaches
Jordan Olivar Jordan A. Olivar (January 30, 1915 – October 17, 1990) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Villanova College—now known as Villanova University—from 1943 to 1948, at Loyola University of Los Ang ...
and
Jim Leonard James Raymond Leonard Sr. (February 14, 1910 – November 28, 1993) was an American football running back in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, as well as the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1945. Leonard was a ...
. The team won the Harbor Bowl after the 1948 season. Sandusky was named a first-team
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 ...
n by the ''
New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...
'' in 1949, his
senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...
year.


Professional career

The
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
of 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) selected Sandusky in the second round of the 1950 draft. He played mostly as a defensive tackle early in his career, but also worked on offense following the retirement of
Lou Rymkus Louis Joseph "the Battler" Rymkus (November 6, 1919 – October 31, 1998) was an American football player and coach in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). Playing as ...
in 1952. Led by a strong defense and an offense that featured
quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Otto Graham Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Graha ...
and
end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...
Dante Lavelli Dante Bert Joseph "Gluefingers" Lavelli (February 23, 1923 – January 20, 2009) was an American professional football player who was an end for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NF ...
, the Browns advanced to the NFL championship in each of Sandusky's six seasons with the team. The team beat the
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
to win the championship in 1950, but lost the ensuing three championship games to the Rams and twice to 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 ...
. Cleveland beat the Lions to win the title in 1954, however, and won it again in 1955 over the Rams. Cleveland coach
Paul Brown Paul Eugene Brown (September 7, 1908 – August 5, 1991) was an American football coach and executive in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Brown was both the co-founder and first coach of the Clevela ...
traded Sandusky along with halfback Chet Lyssy to the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
in August 1956 for a late-round draft pick in 1957. While Brown called Sandusky a "fine football player", the coach wanted to replenish the roster with younger players. Sandusky played one year for the Packers before leaving football.


Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Sandusky began a long coaching career. His first job was as an assistant back at Villanova in 1957. He stayed there until 1959, when he was hired by
Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...
head coach
Weeb Ewbank Wilbur Charles "Weeb" Ewbank (May 6, 1907 – November 17, 1998) was an American professional football coach. He led the Baltimore Colts to consecutive NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 and the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III in Janu ...
, who had been an assistant with the Browns when Sandusky played in Cleveland. He was initially the defensive line coach for the Colts, who finished Sandusky's first season with a 9–3
win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...
and won the NFL West behind an offense led by quarterback
Johnny Unitas John Constantine Unitas (; May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Colts. Following a career that spanned from 1956 ...
and halfback
Lenny Moore Leonard Edward Moore (born November 25, 1933) is an American former professional football player who played both halfback and flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts from 1956 to 1967. He played college football f ...
. The Colts went on to win the
NFL championship Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...
over the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
. The Colts fired Ewbank in early 1963 and replaced him with
Don Shula Donald Francis Shula (January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American football defensive back and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins for most of his ca ...
, who had been an assistant with 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 ...
and played with Sandusky in Cleveland in 1951 and 1952. Shula retained Sandusky on his staff when he took over, and the Colts went on to win the NFL West with a 12–2 record in 1964. The team was heavily favored to win the
NFL championship game Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...
, but lost to the Browns by a 27–0 score. By 1965, Sandusky was the Colts'
offensive line coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...
as the team continued to succeed with Unitas at quarterback. The Colts won the NFL Championship in 1968, but lost to the AFL Champion
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
in
Super Bowl III Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Su ...
. Sandusky stayed on as an assistant when Shula left after the 1969 season and was replaced by Don McCafferty. The Colts finished with an 11–2–1 win–loss–tie record in 1970 and beat the
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
to win
Super Bowl V Super Bowl V was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to determine the National Football League (NFL) champio ...
. The team reached the conference championship game the following year, but faltered at the beginning of the 1972 season. After starting with a 1–4 record, Baltimore general manager Joe Thomas fired McCafferty in October, saying the team was going to replenish its roster with younger players. The move was one of Thomas's first after new Colts owner
Robert Irsay Robert Irsay (March 5, 1923 – January 14, 1997) was an American professional football team owner. He owned the National Football League's Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts franchise from 1972 until his death in 1997. Early life and education Irsay ...
hired him at the beginning of the season. Thomas named Sandusky the team's new coach and charged him with replenishing the roster. At Thomas's urging, Sandusky immediately benched Unitas and replaced him with
Marty Domres Martin Francis Domres ( ; born April 17, 1947) is a former American collegiate and professional football player. From Columbia University, he was drafted in the first round of the Common Draft as a quarterback by the American Football League ( ...
, a quarterback acquired from the
San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
in a preseason trade. While Unitas was in his 17th season and reaching the end of his career, taking him out was a controversial decision because of the success he had. Sandusky's run as head coach of the Colts was unsuccessful. Baltimore suffered a last-minute loss to the
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
in Sandusky's first game, followed by another loss to the
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...
. The Colts won four of their next five games, however, and finished the season with a 5–9 record. Although Sandusky managed a 4–5 win–loss record as coach, Thomas fired him and his coaching staff immediately after the season, saying he made the move only "because I thought it should be done". When Mike McCormack was hired as head coach of the
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 plays ...
in early 1973, he brought Sandusky in as an offensive assistant. Sandusky spent three years under McCormack, who had played with Sandusky as an offensive tackle for the Browns in 1954 and 1955. Sandusky rejoined Shula in 1976, becoming the offensive line coach for the Dolphins. He replaced
Monte Clark Monte Dale Clark (January 24, 1937 – September 16, 2009) was an American football player who served as head coach for the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions. He played college football at USC. Early years Clark attended Kingsburg High S ...
, who had left the team to become head coach of the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
. He stayed with the Dolphins for 19 seasons through 1994, all of them under Shula. The Dolphins advanced to the
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
twice during Sandusky's tenure with the team, in 1982 and 1984, but lost both times. He was offered a job as director of pro personnel for the Colts before the team moved to Indianapolis in 1984, but he declined it, saying he wanted to stay near his family in Florida. Sandusky coached a number of linemen later inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
during his 36-season coaching career, including
Art Donovan Arthur James Donovan Jr. (June 5, 1924 – August 4, 2013), nicknamed the Bulldog, was an American football defensive tackle who played for three National Football League (NFL) teams, most notably the Baltimore Colts. He was inducted into the Pro ...
, Gino Marchetti and Jim Parker with the Colts and
Jim Langer James John Langer (May 16, 1948 – August 29, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a center and guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings. ''BBC Sport'' reported him as one ...
and
Dwight Stephenson Dwight Eugene Stephenson (born November 20, 1957) is an American former professional football player who was a center for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1980 to 1987. He played college football for the Alabama Crim ...
with the Dolphins.


Later life and death

Sandusky was inducted into the South Philadelphia High School Hall of Fame in 1973. Sandusky's son Joe died in 1978 of pneumonia, and his wife Ruth died in 1985. Sandusky was married to his second wife, Shirley, until he died of complications from
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
, which was diagnosed in 2001, and
internal bleeding Internal bleeding (also called internal hemorrhage) is a loss of blood from a blood vessel that collects inside the body. Internal bleeding is usually not visible from the outside. It is a serious medical emergency but the extent of severity depen ...
while hospitalized in 2006. He had four living children at the time of his death and four Step-children. One of his sons,
Gerry Sandusky Gerard Edward Sandusky (born September 5, 1961) is an American sports broadcaster. He works as the sports director at WBAL-TV in Baltimore, Maryland, and does radio play-by-play for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. Early l ...
, is the sports director at
WBAL-TV WBAL-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship property of Hearst Television, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to the company's sole radio ...
in Baltimore and calls
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
games. Sandusky was considered a talented assistant. Long-time
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
general manager
Ernie Accorsi Ernest William Accorsi Jr. (born October 29, 1941) is a former American football executive. He served as the general manager of three teams in the National Football League: the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, and New York Giants. Education an ...
once called him "the greatest coach in the history of the league that never got a chance".


References


Bibliography

* * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandusky, John 1925 births 2006 deaths Sportspeople from Philadelphia Players of American football from Philadelphia American football offensive tackles American football defensive tackles Villanova Wildcats football players Cleveland Browns players Green Bay Packers players Baltimore Colts coaches Philadelphia Eagles coaches Miami Dolphins coaches American people of Irish descent American people of Polish descent American military personnel of World War II Deaths from bleeding Burials in Florida Deaths from dementia in Florida Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Baltimore Colts head coaches South Philadelphia High School alumni