1. Lucien Anthony "Lu" Gambino was an American football running back.
20 Facts About Lu Gambino
1. 2.
Lu Gambino played college football for Indiana University, and after military service in the Second World War, the University of Maryland.
3.
Lu Gambino played professional football for two years with the Baltimore Colts in the All-America Football Conference, an early competitor of the National Football League.
4.
Lu Gambino was born in Berwyn, Illinois, on September 21,1923.
5.
Lu Gambino enrolled at Indiana University in 1941, and he played football for the Hoosiers on the freshman team in 1941 and on the varsity team in 1942 season.
6.
At Indiana, Lu Gambino played alongside consensus All-America back, and future Colts teammate, Billy Hillenbrand.
7.
Shortly thereafter, Lu Gambino dropped out of school to join the United States Army Air Forces and serve during the Second World War.
8.
Lu Gambino was selected in the 1945 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears in the 26th round as the 271st overall pick.
9.
Lu Gambino considered Indiana to be a far superior football program and called Maryland a "cow school," but it was located relatively close to his mother, who was widowed and living alone in Baltimore.
10.
Lu Gambino scored three touchdowns against Delaware and Duquesne, and two against Vanderbilt where he passed for a third.
11.
In 1992, for his achievement as the bowl game's "first superb running back", Lu Gambino was inducted into the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame.
12.
Lu Gambino called the decision "crooked" and asserted that the standing rules did not count returning veterans' pre-war playing career against their eligibility.
13.
Lu Gambino played two seasons for the Colts, 1948 and 1949.
14.
At the time, Lu Gambino was one of four Colts players who were bald.
15.
Lu Gambino was regarded as having been to some extent a victim of the merger between the All-America Football Conference and the NFL, which resulted in the termination of four clubs and the associated influx of 128 free agent players into the professional football market.
16.
Lu Gambino was then picked up by the New York Giants and placed on the reserve list in July 1951.
17.
Lu Gambino's professional playing career was ultimately cut short by his knee.
18.
Lu Gambino married Vivian nee Senese and lived in North Riverside, Illinois.
19.
Lu Gambino became a successful salesman and then a regional sales manager for a national whiskey company.
20.
Lu Gambino died of heart disease on July 16,2003, at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois.