The Browns
reported his death on the teams Web site. No cause of death was given.
Lavelli was among the original
players for the Browns, a once-powerful team that appeared in 10 consecutive
championship games under the Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown beginning in 1946.
The team won the title in every one of its four years in the All-America
Football Conference and three times in the National
Football League, which merged with the A.A.F.C. in 1950.
Lavelli was the favorite receiver
of quarterback Otto Graham, another Brown in the Hall of Fame. In his 11
professional seasons, 1946 through 1956, Lavelli
caught 386 passes for 6,488 yards (a 16.8 average) and 62 touchdowns. He was
inducted into the Hall, in
According to the
Browns, Brown and Bob Neal, the teams first radio announcer, gave Lavelli his nickname. (He liked it and often used Gluefingers when signing autographs.) Brown, who also
coached him at
As a 6-foot,
191-pound rookie, Lavelli led the All-America
conference in catches in 1946, and he caught the winning touchdown pass in the
leagues first championship game that season, a 14-9 victory over the
Yankees at Yankee Stadium. In the Browns first season in the expanded
N.F.L., Lavelli caught 11 passes in the championship
game as the Browns defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 30-28. He also played in
three Pro Bowls.
Dante was a
dedicated pattern runner, but once there was a hint things werent
going right, he preferred to take off down the field and yell for the
ball, according to his Hall of Fame biography. More than once, his
penetrating voice provided a homing signal for Graham, and the combination
clicked for a long touchdown.
Dante Bert Joseph
Lavelli was born Feb. 23, 1923, in
Recruited by
Brown at
After the war he
was signed by Brown to play for the new Browns. He eventually received a degree
from
After his playing
career, Lavelli was a scout for the Browns, and owned
and ran a furniture business in
He is survived by
his wife of nearly 60 years, Joy; two daughters, Lucinda and Lisa; a son,
Edward; and four grandchildren. A cousin, Tony Lavelli,
was a star basketball player at Yale who
later played in the N.B.A. for the Boston Celtics and the Knicks
while achieving some renown as an accordionist.
While a member of
the Browns, Lavelli and other teammates pressed for a
pension plan and minimum pay standards, as well as meal money on road trips and
uniforms that they did not have to pay for themselves. Changes like those were
eventually instituted through the N.F.L. players union, founded in 1956, the
year Lavelli retired.
Before then,
players dared not object to work conditions, he once told the Web site ClevelandSeniors.com. We were all competing
for spots on about 12 teams, so you didnt say
boo, he said. You were fighting for positions. You did what you were
told and toed the line.