Gene Brito
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Personal information | |||||||
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Born: | Huntington Park, California, U.S. | November 23, 1925||||||
Died: | June 8, 1965 Duarte, California, U.S. | (aged 39)||||||
Career information | |||||||
College: | Loyola–Los Angeles | ||||||
NFL draft: | 1951 / Round: 17 / Pick: 196 | ||||||
Career history | |||||||
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Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com |
Gene Herman Brito (November 23, 1925 – June 8, 1965) was an
Early career
Brito, born to a Spanish-American father and Mexican-American mother, grew up in
College career
Brito graduated from
Professional career
Brito began his career as an offensive end right as he was about to turn 26, catching 45 passes in his first two seasons before being moved to defensive end in 1953. He was named the NFL
Personal life
Brito was a staff sergeant in the
Brito was elected posthumously to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.[4] He hosted "The Gene Brito Show" which aired prior to Redskins games in the 1950s making him one of the first NFL athletes to host a show and making him the most popular Redskins of his era.[5] He was then-President John F. Kennedy's favorite player. Brito died on June 8, 1965, of ALS at the age of 39.[6] During an August 1971 visit to the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, President Richard Nixon, who had been friendly with Kennedy during their congressional years, told sportscaster Frank Gifford that he considered Brito a candidate for enshrinement at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[7]
References
- ^ ISBN 0313284318.
- ^ "World War II and the Pro Football Hall of Fame – Sports Data Research".
- ^ "Hall of Very Good". Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
- ^ "Home". niashf.org.
- ^ "Flashback: Brito a Fierce Defender in 1950s". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 18, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - OCLC 18069619.
External links
- Media related to Gene Brito at Wikimedia Commons