Samuel Aldino Brunelli (born December 13, 1943) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

who played six seasons with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Colorado State College.

Early life and college

Samuel Aldino Brunelli was born on December 13, 1943, in

Fort Morgan, Colorado Fort Morgan is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Morgan County, Colorado, Morgan County ...

. He attended Weldon Valley High School in Weldona, Colorado. Brunelli played

for the Colorado State–Greeley Bears of Colorado State College.

Professional career

Brunelli signed with the

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

in 1966. He played in two games for the Broncos that year and spent part of the season on the taxi squad. He appeared in 12 games, starting 11, in 1967. Brunelli started all 14 games during the 1968 season as the Broncos went 5–9. He started all 14 games for the second consecutive year in 1969 as the Broncos finished with a 5–8–1 record. Brunelli played in 13 games, starting 12, in 1970 during the team's first season in the NFL and recovered two fumbles. He appeared in five games, starting four, during the 1971 season. He was placed on injured reserve in 1972 and did not appear in any games that year. Brunelli was released by the Broncos in 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunelli, Sam Living people 1943 births Players of American football from Colorado American football offensive linemen Northern Colorado Bears football players Denver Broncos (AFL) players Denver Broncos players People from Fort Morgan, Colorado