Arthur "The Bulldog" Donovan, Jr. (born June 5, 1925) is a former American football defensive tackle, better known as Art Donovan, who played for three National Football League teams, most notably the Baltimore Colts. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
He is the son of Arthur Donovan, Sr., a famed boxing referee, and the grandson of Professor Mike Donovan, the world middleweight boxing champion in the 1870s.
Art attended Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx. He spent four years in military service with the United States Marine Corps during WW II before playing college football at Boston College. He graduated in 1950.
In each of his first three seasons, Donovan played for a team which went out of business. He started out with the first Baltimore Colts, who folded after his rookie season in 1950, followed by the New York Yanks in 1951, and their successor, the Dallas Texans, in 1952. After the Texans folded, Donovan joined the second Baltimore Colts club in 1953. He became one of the stars in an outstanding defense and was selected to five straight Pro Bowls for 1953 to 1957. The Colts won back-to-back championships in 1958 and 1959.
He was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968, the same year as Marion Motley, who was also born on 5 June.
[edit] Post-playing career
He published an autobiography, Fatso, in 1987. He was noted as a jovial and humorous person during his playing career and capitalized on that with television and speaking appearances after retiring as a player. He owns and manages a country club near Baltimore. Donovan also appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, telling humorous stories about his old playing days and about other "old school" footballers he played with and against. He related a story that he played without a helmet and in fact is shown on football cards without a helmet. Letterman wore Donovan's No. 70 Colts jersey in the infamous Super Bowl XLI commercial with Oprah Winfrey and Jay Leno.
Donovan also made a guest appearance in the Nickelodeon show The Adventures of Pete & Pete in the episode, "Space, Geeks, and Johnny Unitas." Art also appeared as a guest commentator at the WWF 1994 King of the Ring.
He was co-host of the popular 1990s program Braase, Donovan, Davis and Fans on WJZ-TV in Baltimore with Colt teammate Ordell Braase. The trio talked more about Art Donovan's fabled stories than contemporary NFL football, but the show held high ratings in its time period.
[edit] External links
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| Persondata |
| Name |
Donovan, Art |
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| Short description |
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| Date of birth |
June 5, 1925 |
| Place of birth |
Bronx, New York |
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