Paul Salata
 Salata on a 1950 Bowman football card | |||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | October 17, 1926 Los Angeles, California | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | Southern California | ||||||||
| Position: | End | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1951 / round: 10 / pick: 118 (By the Pittsburgh Steelers) | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Paul Thomas Salata (born on October 17, 1926) to a Serbian-born father and second generation Serbian-American mother who instilled a strong work ethic in him. He is a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). He played for the AAFC/NFL's San Francisco 49ers (1949–1950) and the AAFC's Baltimore Colts (1950). After the Colts franchise folded in 1950 he was declared draft-eligible and was subsequently drafted in the tenth round of the 1951 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Although he played just one and a half seasons with the 49ers, he holds a special place in team lore. He scored the 49ers final touchdown in the All-American Football Conference, as well as the team's first TD in NFL.[1]
He also played 3 final seasons in Canada; 1952 with the Calgary Stampeders, where he was an all-star, and 1953 with the Ottawa Rough Riders.
In later years, Salata became famous for creating the Mr. Irrelevant Award in the NFL Draft, awarded annually to the last overall pick in the year's draft. After retiring from football, he became a successful businessman in Southern California.
He has also acted in a number of Hollywood movies.[2] Most notable, playing Tony Minelli in Angels in the Outfield (1951) and in the 1953 film Stalag 17 as a prisoner.
References
- ^ Matt Maiocco, San Francisco 49ers: Where Have You Gone?, (Sports Publishing, 2005), 16.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0757634/
Template:NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award
 | This biographical article relating to an American football wide receiver born in the 1920s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1926 births
- Living people
- American football ends
- Baltimore Colts (1947–50) players
- Calgary Stampeders players
- Ottawa Rough Riders players
- San Francisco 49ers players
- USC Trojans baseball players
- USC Trojans football players
- Sportspeople from Los Angeles, California
- Players of American football from California
- Serbian players of American football
- American people of Serbian descent
- American football wide receiver, pre-1940 birth stubs