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- Mar 19, 2019
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Joe Bellino, the 1960 Heisman Trophy winner who served in the Navy for four years before beginning a short career with the Patriots, has died at the age of 81.
Bellino grew up in Massachusetts and was a three-sport star in football, baseball and basketball, and had scholarship offers all over the country. He chose Navy, where he knew he’d have a four-year military commitment and would have to put his pro sports career on hold.
At Navy, Bellino played three seasons, from 1958 to 1960, and was a running back, receiver, defensive back, kickoff and punt returner, and punter. He won the Heisman Trophy at the end of his senior season, in 1960, when he scored 17 touchdowns and led Navy to the Orange Bowl.
Sports Illustrated described Bellino’s running style as “like a berserk butterfly,” and the sports writer Red Smith wrote that Bellino “wriggles like a brook trout through congested traffic.”
“All I know is that I was quick,” Bellino told the Baltimore Sun years later. “I wasn’t big in the shoulders or waist, but my legs were stocky and I was built low to the ground. I could run straight, or sideways, without losing any speed, and I had lateral movement that let me bounce in and out.”
In those days, the Heisman Trophy wasn’t awarded at a formal ceremony, and Bellino found out he was the recipient when he got pulled out of class at Navy.
“I was in engineering class when I got the news,” Bellino recalled. “Someone said the superintendent needed to speak to me. I thought, ‘Geez, I’m in trouble academically.’”
With the Heisman came an invitation a few months later to visit President John F. Kennedy in the White House, which Bellino described as “just two guys with Boston accents talking football.”
Despite his college exploits, Bellino lasted until the 17th round of the NFL draft and the 19th round of the AFL draft, because teams knew they would have to wait four years to get him on the field, thanks to his military commitment. After serving in the Navy, Bellino began his rookie year with the Boston Patriots in 1965 and spent three years with the team, primarily serving as a punt and kickoff returner.
After retiring as a player, Bellino spent two more decades in the Navy reserves and was a high school football coach.