[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 30, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H5099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ANGELO BERTELLI BIOGRAPHY

  (Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, Angelo Bertelli died on 
Saturday at the age of 78 years old. Angelo Bertelli was one of the 
great football players in the history of college football in America, 
and he played at Cathedral High School in Springfield. He was the son 
of Italian immigrants, and people like Nick Buoniconti and Joe Scibelli 
followed in that tradition at Cathedral High School as well. At 
Cathedral, he not only was a star in football, but he won all-State 
honors in baseball and hockey as well and served as senior class 
president.
  He entered Notre Dame, became college football's first T-formation 
quarterback under Frank Leahy.
  The T-formation became an immediate success and the legendary sports 
writer Grantland Rice called him the T-formation magician.
  He was voted to all-American teams in 1942 and 1943; and in the year 
1943, he won the Heisman Trophy.
  He became a captain in the Marine Corps. He fought in Iwo Jima and 
Guam. He earned a bronze star and the purple heart. After World War II, 
he became a successful businessman in New Jersey; and he was elected to 
the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.
  Mr. Speaker, it was my honor to have known Angelo Bertelli and to 
have known him as a perfect gentleman, a great father, a terrific 
brother and a wonderful husband, and an extraordinary citizen and a 
patriot.
  Last year, he gave me the opportunity to watch him as he addressed 
the football banquet at Cathedral High School for a team that had won 
the State championship. Angelo Bertelli never lost the special 
qualities that endeared him to America, and we regret his passing.

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