Turning Pages of '100 Things Colts Fans:' Gino Marchetti

When speaking to an NFL legend from yesteryear, it’s always interesting to hear how they think they would do in today’s game.

Gino Marchetti didn’t hesitate when asked about being called the greatest defensive end to ever play the game.

“One of,” he said in a 2013 phone conversation. “I’ll take that any day. You can’t compare eras.”

What became increasingly apparent was the 87-year-old’s humility. He expressed what an honor it was to be included in the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (Triumph Books).

But it was truly the other way around for the interviewer.

A member of the NFL’s 50th and 75th Anniversary teams, Marchetti was a monster in a time when tackles and sacks weren’t an official statistic. The Baltimore Colts Hall of Famer was with the franchise from 1953 to 1964 and again in 1966. He was named to 11 Pro Bowls.

Colts Hall of Fame wide receiver Raymond Berry put into perspective what Marchetti meant to the defense.

“He and (Hall of Fame quarterback) Johnny Unitas were neck and neck,” Berry said, when asked who was the greatest Baltimore Colt. “That’s how dominating a defensive player Gino was. We had Unitas on offense and Marchetti on defense. That equates to two world championships.”

Marchetti, who passed away last year at the age of 93, recalled how the Colts should have won an NFL championship in 1957, which would have meant three in a row to go with 1958 and 1959.

“We lost three games in about three minutes of playing time,” he said. “You have to learn how to win. That phrase gets used a lot, but I don’t think people realize how true it is.”

Younger generations of NFL fans might associate him more with his fast food restaurant chain that became known as Gino’s Hamburgers with 313 company-owned locations.

When he played, Marchetti chewed up blockers, which was somewhat remarkable when considering he was undersized by today’s standards at 6-4 and just 244 pounds.

“You could line up a bunch of right tackles and I could tell you what you would get from them,” Berry said. “It was a nightmare for them. He would throw them aside, flip them, whatever. I’m sure they lost sleep for three nights after trying to keep him off their quarterbacks.”

What also stood out was Marchetti’s mood before playing. Berry laughed.

“I think about him in a locker room before a game,” Berry said.

“You ever been to a zoo and you see a lion going back and forth? That was Marchetti. He was always pacing, like a caged animal. He was just non-stop.”

Marchetti admits he was wired differently. Intense at the drop of a hat. Impatient to the point of needing to move around. In retirement, he attended a Colts game at Memorial Stadium. He got so worked up watching, he couldn’t remember where he parked. So Marchetti headed to the locker room to hang out, waited until the fans filed out and the cars disappeared. That’s how he found his car.

On one road trip for a game, he developed a 102-degree fever. Trainer Ed Block insisted on rooming with him to monitor the player’s condition.

“The next day we get up and we’re eating breakfast and Ed said, ‘You know, Gino, if I could figure out a way to calm you down the night before a game, I could add two or three more years to your career,’” Marchetti recalled Block saying.

The late Ted Marchibroda, a backup NFL quarterback from 1953 to 1957, started his NFL coaching career as a Colts assistant in 1961. He would later coach the Colts in Baltimore after Marchetti’s playing days and in Indianapolis.

“There was no question, in his day he was the most outstanding defensive end,” said Marchibroda, who passed away in 2016. “Even at this particular time, he’s one of the best defensive ends in league history. He was on some great teams with some great players, but he stood out even among those guys.”

Marchetti reminisced about the good, old days, which he didn’t take time to appreciate decades ago. He spoke of favorite teammates, especially the guy lined up next to him, Hall of Fame defensive tackle Art Donovan.

If trying to assess Marchetti’s impact based on statistics, consider that he sacked Detroit quarterback Bobby Layne eight times in one home game, according to numbers the Colts logged. Hall of Fame head coach Weeb Ewbank only allowed a player to be credited with a sack if he made a tackle.

One year, Marchetti remembers being shown Ewbank’s statistical breakdown charts. The defensive end was credited with disrupting the quarterback 60 times in a 12-game season.

“I was double-teamed a hell of a lot,” Marchetti said. “One time, coach George Halas had me triple-teamed the whole game against the Chicago Bears. And, hey listen, they held me a lot in those days, too.”

(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)