Goombah Superstar & More

vic fortezza
3 min readOct 20, 2022

RIP NFL Hall of Famer Charley Trippi, 100. Born in Pennsylvania to an Italian immigrant coal miner, he turned to sports to avoid going to work underground. He played semi-pro baseball while in high school. Although considered undersized, he received a football scholarship to Georgia. In 1942 he led the Bulldogs to the national championship and capped off the season with a big game in the Rose Bowl. His college career was interrupted by WWII. He missed the entire ’43 and ’44 seasons, and part of ’45. In ’46 he led Georgia to an undefeated season, which included victory in the Sugar Bowl. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting but received the Maxwell Award as the outstanding player in the nation. As a senior he batted .475 as a shortstop and outfielder. In his one year of minor league ball, he hit .334. Selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the Chicago Cardinals, Trippi was an immediate success, helping the team to the league championship, scoring on a 44-yard run and 75-yard punt return in the title game. He occasionally played QB and DB and punted. When he retired in ’55, he was the NFL’s all-time leader in all-purpose yards, and remains the only player to have accumulated at least 1000 yards each receiving, passing and rushing. He was named to the 1940’s All-Decade team. He is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. His #62 was retired by Georgia. After his playing career ended, he served as an assistant coach until ’65, then went into real estate. Married twice, his first wife passing away, he is a father of five. Awesome, Goombah. Facts from Wiki. Photo from Google Images.

From a nypost.com article by adiaznyp (not a typo), edited by yours truly: Elaine Terry celebrated her 104th birthday Wednesday on the Upper East Side surrounded by friends and family. She attributes her long and healthy life to hot dogs, chicken fingers and love. Great genes help, I suspect. She also walks at least one mile each day. Kudos, madam.

From NYP: “The FBI Agents Association rewarded agents who took a knee in front of BLM, proving the rot isn’t just at the top.” They received $100 gift cards, according to the accompanying article by James A. Gagliano. Wouldn’t it be funny if those same agents were directed to investigate BLM corruption?

Headline from newsmax.com: “Video Report: US Military Rated ‘Weak’ for First Time.” Anyone surprised?

Headline from foxnews.com: “Iowa school district to allow some teachers to carry guns on campus.” Can’t blame ’em. These are dangerous times.

Another perfect day to sell stuff curbside. My thanks to the woman who donated about ten books, most of them classics; and to the one who bought three hardcovers in Russian; and to the one who purchased Fine Things by Danielle Steel; and to the one who selected a pictorial on Yoga; and to the young man who took home The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan… I hadn’t seen Lynn, a retired nurse, in a while. She had a severe case of Covid, despite living alone, always wearing a mask outside, and having had four shots, the last of which made her severely ill. She is still wearing a mask.

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vic fortezza
vic fortezza

Written by vic fortezza

I was born in Brooklyn in 1950 to Sicilian immigrants. I’ve had more than 50 short stories published world wide. I have 13 books in print.

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