Joe Bellino

Joseph Michael Bellino (born March 13, 1938) is a former American football halfback who won the Heisman Trophy in 1960 and later played in iin the American Football League for the Boston Patriots.

Early life
Bellino was born in Winchester, Massachusetts, attended the town's public schools, and was a three-sport star at Winchester High School. In baseball he batted well over .400 and was courted by major league teams. The basketball team on which he starred won the state championship his sophomore and junior years. They moved up to the Class A (largest schools) tournament his senior year, where the team's 55 game winning streak came to an end at the hands of much larger B.M.C. Durfee High School of Fall River. He was a dominant halfback on Winchester's outstanding football team, although his senior season was shortened by the 1955 polio epidemic.

College career
During his 1956-57 year at Columbian Academy in Washington D.C., Bellino starred in both football and basketball. On November 25, Bellino scored three touchdowns in Columbian's upset win over the Navy Plebes, 34-33. In the fall of 1957, Bellino entered the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland along with his former high-school teammate, Frank Dattilo. During his freshman year, the Plebes matched up against the Penn State freshmen and their star player Lew Luce. Penn State won the game 23-13 but Bellino took a lateral from his Columbian teammate Harry Dietz, and scored on an 85 yard kickoff return.

He was an outstanding baseball player at Navy, but his legendary exploits occurred on the football field. In his senior year, he rushed for 834 yards, caught 15 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns, threw two touchdown passes, averaged 47.1 yards as a punter, and returned kicks and punts. He won the 1960 Heisman Trophy by a wide margin, garnering the most votes in each of the five national voting regions. In Bellino's final college football game, Navy's loss to the University of Missouri in the 1961 Orange Bowl, he scored his team's final touchdown with a spectacular diving catch in the end zone.

Following graduation, Ensign Bellino began his four years of active Navy service, until he was discharged to reserve duty.

Professional career
Bellino was drafted in 17th round of the 1961 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins, as well as in the 19th round of the 1961 AFL Draft by the Boston Patriots. He decided to join the Patriots of the American Football League, and played three seasons, primarily as a kick returner. He is the lowest drafted Heisman Trophy winner in the history of the NFL. Joe Bellino also played for the Providence Steamrollers semi-pro team in Providence RI at the Mt. Pleasant High School football field.

After football
Bellino served a total of 28 years in the United States Navy and the Naval Reserve, and retired with the rank of Captain.

Since the close of his playing career, he has been a successful businessman in the Boston area, where he has also been active in charitable organizations. He and his wife, Ann Tansey, have two children, Therese and John, and currently live in Bedford, Massachusetts.

Bellino Park in Winchester was dedicated in his honor in November 2004.