Joe Marconi was one tough hombre
Western Pennsylvania has produced its share of outstanding players over the years, and one of the toughest hombres to come out of this region was Joe Marconi. Born Feb. 6, 1934, Marconi grew up in Fredericktown, where he had a stellar high school athletic career.
He was a force for the East Beth Bulldogs. The Italian-Lithuanian youngster played end, halfback and fullback on the football team, guard and center on the basketball team and outfield on the baseball team.
After graduating from East Beth in 1952, Marconi played in the Jaycee All-Star football game and was the leading ground gainer. He was one of the most sought after high school football players in the country.
Looking back on those early years he said that his father was his inspiration.
“My father, Marconi stated. “He was a coal miner in Fredericktown, Pa., and the most he ever earned in a year was $4,200, in 1953. He urged me to get an education and `stay the hell out of the mines.'”
At first Marconi accepted an athletic scholarship at Maryland. He didn’t like the school and instead wound up at West Virginia.
Marconi didn’t go to WVU because he had no other place to go. He probably could have written his own ticket at about any school he chose. Maryland had him in tow until a few days before fall camp in September of 1952. But there was reason to believe that Maryland stooped to unethical practices to lure him away from West Virginia.
According to reports at the time, Joe’s mama and papa didn’t like the way Maryland was doing business, so they informed the youngster to go to WVU. That suited Marconi. He wanted to go to West Virginia in the first place.
One day Marconi showed up at the WVU training camp at Jackson’s Mill, W.Va., and asked for a uniform. WVU coach Art “Pappy” Lewis and his staff were happy to oblige, and it turned out to be a boon for the Mountaineers.
But Maryland didn’t give up without a fight. A telephone call came in for Joe Marconi. But they said Joe wasn’t around the camp. He had gone to Weston to a movie or something like that. Or maybe he was there in hiding.
The call was from Maryland. Someone asked to speak to Marconi.
Smelling a rat, WVU coach Red Shockey pretended he was Marconi.
He talked for a minute or so to the Maryland caller, who turned out to be a Terp coach. Then, when he could no longer restrain himself Shockey admitted he was not Marconi.
But he was implicit in telling the caller that Joe wasn’t about to return to Maryland.
“Tell you what to do,” Shockey suggested. “Send one of those big Maryland tackles over here to bring Joe back. Then maybe we can persuade both of them to stay.
That ended Maryland’s pursuit of Marconi.
Initially used on defense, Marconi proved to be too effective as a runner and was installed in Lewis’ “T” formation, piling up 998 career yards on 181 carries for an impressive 5.5 average. Marconi also found the end zone 18 times during his career.
He flashed his form the first time he touched the ball for WVU. On his first carry in college, he scampered 30 yards for a touchdown in a 49-12 rout of Waynesburg.
Marconi rushed for 104 yards on 19 carries against Pitt in 1953. His best performance as a Mountaineer came against North Carolina State. Carrying the football just 11 times, Marconi rambled for 118 yards in a 27-7 Mountaineer win in his last college football game.
Marconi gave a lot of credit to his former WVU teammate Sam Huff for keeping him going at West Virginia.
“We were teammates and roommates at West Virginia,” Marconi offered in a Chicago Sun Times article. “Every time I was going to pack it in, Huff counseled me and advised me to stay in school.”
A member of the 1954 Sugar Bowl team, the all-Southern Conference back helped WVU to a 31-7 record during his four years, including a 30-game winning streak in the Southern Conference. Selected to play in the College Football All-Star Game and the Blue-Gray Game after his senior year, his stellar performances in both games helped him become the Los Angeles Rams’ No. 1 draft choice in 1956.
At the time Marconi was thrilled to be a No. 1 pick.
“It’s quite an honor,” Marconi said in the Los Angeles Times. “I just hope I can make it.”
Making it in pro football wasn’t a problem.
Marconi got playing time as a rookie for the Rams, carrying the ball 75 times for 298 yards and seven touchdowns. Toting the football 104 times in 1957, Marconi gained a career-best 481 yards while scoring three touchdowns. He totaled 1,769 yards and 21 touchdowns as a Ram.
He enjoyed the pro game.
“I like the speed, the timing and the execution of pro ball,” Marconi said.
Marconi was traded to the Chicago Bears before the 1962 season.
Playing five additional years with the Bears, Marconi’s best year as a professional came in 1963, when he rushed for 446 yards and two touchdowns while helping Chicago to the NFL title. For his efforts in 1963, he was selected to play in the 1964 Pro Bowl, the crowning achievement in his 11-year professional football career.
Marconi felt beating the New York Giants 14-10 in the 1963 NFL Championship game was his greatest day in pro football.
“Our 14-10 victory over the Giants in 1963 championship game was the highlight,” Marconi explained “Rick Casares was injured and Ronnie Bull and I divided the fullback chores. Bull took care of the ground work, while I caught six passes.”
He played two more years in 1965 and 1966, but injuries and age kept him out of a lot of the action. Rushing for 2,771 career yards, he also caught 136 passes for 1,326 yards while accounting for 39 touchdowns as a pro.
Marconi retired from football in 1966. He became a sales representative in the steel business from his home in Downer’s Grove, Ill. He and his wife Janet had three sons: George, Joe and John and one daughter, Janelle.
Marconi never lost touch with West Virginia University and was one of the founders of the WVU Letterman’s Club and a keen contributor to Mountaineer athletics. He was inducted into the WVU Hall of Fame in 1993.
Looking back on his career, Marconi told the Chicago Sun Times. “I wouldn’t change a darn thing.”
Marconi who had been undergoing treatment for leukemia, passed away from a heart attack at the age of 58 on Aug. 22, 1992.
George Von Benko’s “Memory Lane” columns appear in the Sunday editions of the Herald-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.