How old is brian piccolo

Rushing for yards on an ACC-record 36 carries in degree heat, he lost 15 pounds during the game and had to be carried off the field. Piccolo helped Wake Forest finish —the only time the Demon Deacons football team didn't have a losing record in the s. He finished 10th in Heisman Trophy voting, ahead of Alabama quarterback Joe Namath as well as Sayers, his future Bears teammate who was a star running back at Kansas.

Piccolo later became a charter member of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in when he was inducted posthumously. There were players selected in 20 rounds in the NFL Draft.

But Piccolo wasn't among them—even after leading the nation in rushing and scoring at Wake Forest. The prevailing thought was that the , pounder was too small to play fullback in the NFL. I really wanted a pro try. Piccolo received that opportunity from the Bears, joining the team as a free agent.

At the media session—which was held in downtown Chicago on the 39th floor of the Prudential building—Halas speculated why Piccolo went undrafted, saying: "The pros just didn't ponder on a pound fullback, but Piccolo is a growing boy and may play for us at between and next fall.

Piccolo spent his rookie season on the Bears' "taxi squad," which is now known as the practice squad, meaning he was able to practice but not suit up for games. He appeared in all 14 contests in , but played primarily on special teams, carrying the ball just three times for 12 yards.

Piccolo's time on offense expanded in Serving as Sayers' backup, he rushed for yards on 87 carries and caught 13 passes for yards. Piccolo's most productive season came in when he ran for a career-high yards and two touchdowns on attempts and had 28 receptions for yards. The majority of his workload came in the final six games after Sayers had sustained a season-ending knee injury against the 49ers. Piccolo recorded the only yard game of his career on Dec. He followed the next week with 62 yards and one TD on 22 attempts in a victory over the Rams in Los Angeles.

When Sayers returned from his injury in , Piccolo reverted to his role as backup running back and also practiced at fullback.

After starting fullback Ronnie Bull was injured in the sixth game of the season—a home loss to the Rams—Piccolo started the following week at the position alongside Sayers in the backfield in a road loss to the Vikings. Piccolo had been bothered by a cough and took himself out of a game against the Falcons in Atlanta on Nov. It was the final time he would step on an NFL field. A few days later, Piccolo visited Illinois Masonic Hospital to take a chest x-ray and was ultimately diagnosed with embryonal cell carcinoma.

In November , Piccolo underwent a four-and-a-half hour surgery to remove a malignant tumor in his chest that was the size of a grapefruit. He talked to me a lot—even before the first operation—and made me understand. He told me the alternatives and what could happen.

Piccolo hoped to return to the Bears but acknowledged that the cancer diagnosis had changed his outlook on life—especially when it came to his wife, Joy, and their young daughters Lori, Kristi and Traci. After finding a lump on his chest in February, Piccolo returned to New York and spent a month undergoing chemotherapy treatments. But the disease did not respond, and in March he underwent a mastectomy and had lymph nodes removed from his chest. During a third procedure in April, Piccolo had his left lung removed.

But the cancer spread to other parts of his body and he ultimately succumbed to the disease on June 16, Mary Catholic Cemetery in Evergreen Park. Part of the same Bears rookie class in , Piccolo and Sayers developed a close friendship. In , at a time when race riots were occurring throughout the country, the two running backs began rooming together on the road, becoming the NFL's first interracial roommates.

After Sayers suffered a season-ending knee injury in , Piccolo helped his friend rehab. Sayers rebounded to lead the NFL in rushing with 1, yards and eight touchdowns on carries. Before a game against the Baltimore Colts late in the season, it was Sayers who informed the rest of their teammates of the severity of Piccolo's condition.

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Michael Lee Brown Stage Actor. Scouts believed the 5-foot, pound back wasn't big or fast enough. The Bears signed him as a free agent.

Piccolo spent a year on the Bears' taxi squad before rushing times for yards and catching 58 passes for yards from He scored four touchdowns. You're doing something you love. Known for his mild temper and sense of humor, Piccolo had a recipe for success: talent, determination and luck.

That's not exactly the best way to bust into the league. That's not exactly what you'd call being in the right place at the right time. The youngest of three brothers, Piccolo was born on Oct. When he was three, the family moved to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Brian's parents, Joseph and Irene, opened a sandwich shop in Fort Lauderdale.

Joseph had previously driven a Greyhound bus and operated a driving school in Massachusetts. Piccolo soon followed the lead of his brothers and took an interest in athletics.

His passion was baseball, which he considered his primary sport through high school. At Central Catholic High School, he played offensive tackle as a freshman and wasn't switched to halfback until his senior season. Despite a lack of speed, Piccolo received two scholarship offers -- and he chose Wake Forest over Wichita State. He played for the freshman team in and averaged 4. In his sophomore and junior seasons, the first 18 games he played in were losses.

Piccolo, though, led the team in rushing each season, but not with particularly impressive totals yards and But in his senior season, he blossomed into a star, running for 1, yards on carries a 4.