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Posted

He was a classic wit! His stories of the League during his playing time should be required viewing for every fan. His anecdotes are treasures. He will be missed.

 

RIP, Art.

Posted

He was a classic wit! His stories of the League during his playing time should be required viewing for every fan. His anecdotes are treasures. He will be missed.

 

RIP, Art.

Very true.

Very true.

RIP Art.

Posted

For those who haven't had the chance to read it yet, I highly recommend Art's book "Fatso"--great anecdote after great anecdote. You will be missed, Mr. Donovan, may you rest in peace....

Posted

He was one of the first real disrupters on the D line. Also, he had a hilarious sense of humour. Loved to watch his show in Baltimore when I lived in DC. He knew good players from bad and always had a funny way of expressing it. He will be missed. Can't believe he was 89. Time flies.

Posted (edited)

Is there a Former NFL Player forum to send this to, Art has less relevance to the current NFL than Johnny football.

 

RIP AD.

 

How is Art Donovan LESS relevant to current football than many players discussed here? Just curious...

 

For those who haven't had the chance to read it yet, I highly recommend Art's book "Fatso"--great anecdote after great anecdote. You will be missed, Mr. Donovan, may you rest in peace....

 

'Fatso' is a hilarious look at pro football back in the day. Players came to training camp to get in shape. Take his stories with a grain of salt but I would have loved to sit down with him and plenty of beer and sandwiches and listen to his "tall tales" laced with a lot of facts!

Edited by rockpile
Posted

Thanks for posting this! RIP to you Art Donovan. His stories about playing in the NFL in the 50's/60's are legendary! His wit was absolutely the best. He was really great with giving you the players perspective on playing in the NFL in that era. And oh yeh, he was a pretty good D-lineman too. RWR

Posted

We had Art Donovan as a guest speaker for Super Bowl XXXV at our hospitality site and the guy was just pure gold. The stories and especially the way he told them were just classic. I still have the Super Bowl football he signed when he co hosted with Len Dawson at the event.

Posted

I was fortunate enough to have talked football with him for about 30-45 minutes. It was great talking about those days. Wonderful guy and a lot of fun!!

 

Little known fact: He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1949 (17th round, 131 overall). When the AAFC folded and they had their dispersal draft, Baltimore selected his rights from Buffalo after the third round (pick 40 overall). If the AAFC had stuck around another year, Donovan may have been a Buffalo Bill. The Giants drafted him in 1947.

 

Another little known fact: His first three seasons were with teams that folded: 1950 Baltimore Colts, 1951 New York Yanks, 1952 Dallas Texans. It was not until the second incarnation of the Baltimore Colts before his team lasted (until they moved to Indy).

 

R.I.P. Art.

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