Dante Bert Joseph "Gluefingers" Lavelli (February 23, 1923 – January 20, 2009) was an American football end who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1956. Starring alongside quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley, placekicker Lou Groza and fellow receiver Mac Speedie, Lavelli was an integral part of a Browns team that won seven championships during his 11-season career. Lavelli was known for his sure hands and improvisations on the field. He was also renowned for making catches in critical situations, earning the nickname "Mr. Clutch". "Lavelli had one of the strongest pairs of hands I've ever seen," Browns coach Paul Brown once said of him. "When he went up for a pass with a defender, you cou
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| - Dante Bert Joseph "Gluefingers" Lavelli (February 23, 1923 – January 20, 2009) was an American football end who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1956. Starring alongside quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley, placekicker Lou Groza and fellow receiver Mac Speedie, Lavelli was an integral part of a Browns team that won seven championships during his 11-season career. Lavelli was known for his sure hands and improvisations on the field. He was also renowned for making catches in critical situations, earning the nickname "Mr. Clutch". "Lavelli had one of the strongest pairs of hands I've ever seen," Browns coach Paul Brown once said of him. "When he went up for a pass with a defender, you cou
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| - Dante Lavelli
- Lavelli, Dante
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| - Dante Lavelli on a 1950 football card
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| - Cleveland Browns receiver Dante Lavelli on a 1950 football card
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| - Dante Lavelli, as quoted in Expanding Your Horizons: Collegiate Football's Greatest Team
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| - Paul, Otto Graham, Mac Speedie and I developed several passing options that were new to football and later would be copied by other teams. The most famous of these was "the come back toward the passer" option. After it appeared that a pass pattern was not going to be successful, the End would break his pass pattern and turn back toward his passer. It would take another second or so for Otto to hold the ball before passing it, but it proved a valuable addition for our offense.
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| - Dante Bert Joseph "Gluefingers" Lavelli (February 23, 1923 – January 20, 2009) was an American football end who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1956. Starring alongside quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley, placekicker Lou Groza and fellow receiver Mac Speedie, Lavelli was an integral part of a Browns team that won seven championships during his 11-season career. Lavelli was known for his sure hands and improvisations on the field. He was also renowned for making catches in critical situations, earning the nickname "Mr. Clutch". "Lavelli had one of the strongest pairs of hands I've ever seen," Browns coach Paul Brown once said of him. "When he went up for a pass with a defender, you could almost always count on him coming back down with the ball." Lavelli grew up in Hudson, Ohio and played football, baseball and basketball at his local high school. After graduating, he enrolled at Ohio State University, where he played only a handful of games before he was drafted for service in the U.S. Army during World War II. Returning in 1945 after serving in Europe, he joined the Browns in the team's first-ever season in the AAFC. Helped by Lavelli's play, the Browns won each of the AAFC's championships before the league dissolved in 1949 and the team was absorbed by the NFL. Cleveland continued to succeed in the NFL, winning championships in 1950, 1954 and 1955. Lavelli, who helped found the National Football League Players Association toward the end of his career, retired after the 1956 season. After retiring from football, Lavelli held a variety of coaching and scouting jobs and was active in NFL alumni affairs. He also ran a furniture store in Rocky River, Ohio. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1975. He died in a Cleveland hospital in 2009.
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