Gino Marchetti

Gino Marchetti, the rugged defensive end for the great Baltimore Colts teams of the 1950s who was widely considered one of the best at his position, died on Monday April 29 2019 in Paoli, Pa. He was 93. The cause was pneumonia, his wife, Joan Marchetti, said. Marchetti, who was selected to 11 consecutive Pro Bowls starting in 1954 and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972, was the prototypical defensive end. Marchetti’s success was not limited to the football field. While a member of the Colts, he opened a pizza and hamburger stand with a loan from the team’s owner, Carroll D. Rosenbloom. The place, Gino’s, became a Baltimore favorite and eventually grew to more than 450 restaurants in several states. In 1982, Marchetti sold the chain for $48.6 million to the Marriott Corporation, which converted many of the restaurants to Roy Rogers fast-food outlets. Gino Marchetti was born to Maria (Dalforte) and Ernesto Marchetti, immigrants from Lucca, Italy, on Jan. 2, 1926, in Kayford, W.Va., and grew up northeast of San Francisco in Antioch, Calif. He became a star at Modesto Junior College, then moved on to the University of San Francisco, where he played on an undefeated 1951 squad that featured nine future N.F.L. players, including five future Pro Bowlers and three future Hall of Famers. He entered the N.F.L. the next year with the Dallas Texans, then became a Colt when the franchise moved to Baltimore in 1953. He married Joan Plecenik in 1978, after his marriage to Flora Etta Beck ended in divorce. In addition to his wife, with whom he lived in West Chester, Pa., he is survived by two daughters, Gina Burgess and Michelle Kapp; two sons, John and Eric; a stepdaughter, Donna Lloyd; 16 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.