Andrew Puopolo

Andrew Puopolo was a Harvard University football player. As a senior in the Fall of 1976, he was the victim of a stabbing in Boston's Combat Zone, the city's adult entertainment district. On the evening of 16 November 1976, Puopolo and a group of his Harvard Crimson teammates went to few of the Combat Zone's strip clubs while celebrating the end of the football season. Sitting in a car, Puopolo's teammate Charlie Kaye, was approached by a pair of prostitutes. Reaching through the windows of the car, the prostitutes distracted Kaye by fondling his private parts and then stole a wallet from his pocket. As the prostitutes ran away, Puopolo pursued them. Three men, came to the aid of the women, and in the ensuing altercation one of the men stabbed Puopolo.

As a result of his injuries, Puopolo's brain was deprived of oxygen and suffered extension damage. He remained in a comatose state for 31 days before suffering a fatal heart attack on 17 December 1976 while still attached to the respirator that had been keeping him alive.

Puopolo grew up in Boston and had graduated from the prestigious Boston Latin Public High School before enrolling at Harvard. Puopolo had started at safety for the Crimson during the 1976 season and was scheduled to graduate the following Spring with a degree in biology.

A scholarship at Harvard and an athletic field in Boston's North End are both named in honor of Puopolo.