Tony Canadeo

Anthony Robert Canadeo (May 5, 1919 – November 29, 2003) was an American professional football player who was a back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Green Bay Packers from 1941 to 1952, having missed most of the 1944 season and the entire 1945 season while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, he attended Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, played football for the Bulldogs, and earned the nickname "Gray Ghost of Gonzaga".

Of Italian ancestry, he was named an "outstanding Italian American athlete" for 1939 by the National Italian American Civic League.

Others honored included New York Yankees' center fielder Joe DiMaggio and golfer Gene Sarazen.

As a senior in 1940, Canadeo starred in Gonzaga's 13–7 upset win over the heavily favored University of Detroit in November.

Canadeo was selected by the Packers in the 1941 NFL draft.

The football program was dropped after 1941, and he was its last alumnus to play pro football.

He also boxed for the Bulldogs during his senior year, and was named team captain.

Canadeo was not particularly fast or elusive, and was smaller than average NFL players even for his time.

However, he was a determined and tenacious player.

Contemporary Jim Benton called him one of the three toughest players to tackle, alongside Frank Sinkwich and Steve Van Buren.

He was also versatile, playing multiple positions on offense, defense, and special teams.

This versatility caused Packers head coach Curly Lambeau to take notice, despite Gonzaga being a smaller college.

Canadeo was selected by the Packers in the ninth round with the 77th overall pick of the 1941 NFL draft, held in December 1940.

By August 13, Canadeo was one of only seven players to sign a contract with the team out of the twenty Green Bay had drafted.

Most of the remaining unsigned players either joined the military or chose not to play professional football.

Lambeau looked to use Canadeo to bolster a backfield that included aging stars Clarke Hinkle and Arnie Herber.

Before the season, Canadeo competed with Herber and Cecil Isbell for the starting quarterback role.

He starred in an exhibition game against the New York Giants, as he and Frank Balasz led a scoring march through a muddy field in the third quarter.

Herber was waived by the Packers at the end of training camp and Isbell became the Packers' quarterback, while Canadeo had a reserve role in the offense as a rookie in 1941.

That season, he played in the first ever NFL playoff game (unscheduled divisional tiebreaker), in which he picked up seven yards on five carries as the Packers lost 33–14 to the eventual NFL champion Chicago Bears.

As a backup to Isbell in 1942, Canadeo passed for 310 yards and rushed for 272 more.

One of his three touchdown passes was a toss to receiver Don Hutson from one inch away from the goal line.

When scolded by one of his coaches for passing so close to the goal line, Canadeo quipped, "Cecil Isbell tossed a four-incher not long ago for a record and I wanted to beat it – you don't get an opportunity like that very often."

Before the war, Canadeo was a triple-threat halfback for the Packers, leading the team in rushing and passing in 1943.

In 1943, Isbell quit his playing career to coach for Purdue University, his alma mater.

Canadeo took over for Isbell at tailback and led the Packers that season in both rushing and passing yards.

He gained 489 yards and three touchdowns on 94 carries, had 875 passing yards and nine touchdowns, and scored two touchdowns as a receiver.

He and Harry Clarke of the Bears battled for the rushing title late in the season, but Canadeo ultimately finished fifth in the league in yardage.

After the season, he was named a first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press.

Canadeo's honorable discharge from the navy in August 1943 had allowed him to play for the Packers that season.

When he returned from the war in 1946, he served primarily as a running back, and in 1949 became the third player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 or more yards in a season.

He retired as the Packers' all-time rushing yards leader.

Canadeo's number 3 was retired by the Packers immediately following his retirement as a player.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974.

After his playing career, Canadeo worked as a color commentator for CBS television, covering Packers games with Ray Scott.

He also was a long-time member of the Green Bay Packers, Inc. Board of Directors and Executive Committee, most notably during the Vince Lombardi era.

Canadeo died in 2003 at the age of 84.

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Canadeo attended Charles P. Steinmetz Academic Centre, formerly known as Steinmetz High School, a public four-year high school located in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood.

Canadeo played college football at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, where he was first known as the "Gray Ghost of Gonzaga," due to his prematurely graying hair.