Mike D'Amato (American football)

Mike D'Amato

No. 47
Defensive back/Safety
Personal information
Date of birth: (1943-03-03) March 3, 1943
Place of birth: Brooklyn, New York
Career information
College: Hofstra
NFL Draft: 1968 / Round: 10 / Pick: 264
Debuted in 1968 for the [[{{{debutteam}}}]]
Last played in 1968 for the [[{{{finalteam}}}]]
Career history
* AFL New York Jets (1968)
Career highlights and awards
* AFL Champion (1968) 1× Super Bowl Champion (1968)
Games played	13
Games started	0
Fumble recoveries	1
Stats at NFL.com

Michael Anthony "Mike" D'Amato (born March 3, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York) is a former American football defensive back. A safety, he played college football at Hofstra University, and played professionally in the American Football League for the New York Jets in the 1968 season. That season, the Jets defeated the Oakland Raiders in the AFL Championship game, and went on to humble the heavily favored NFL champion Baltimore Colts in the third AFL-NFL World Championship game. He followed Jets center John Schmitt as the second Hofstra alumnus to play for the team. D'Amato is now Hofstra's Special Assistant to the President for Alumni Affairs.

Hofstra University honored D'Amato in 2009 when it named the "Football and Lacrosse Traditions Project" in honor of Mike D'Amato '68 and Lou DiBlassi '61. The project was a gift from Hofstra benefactor James Metzger '83 who insisted that the project be named as a tribute to D'Amato and DiBlassi. According to Metzger, a former lacrosse All-American himself, D'Amato is "the only person to have been both a lacrosse All-American and a member of a Super Bowl winning team" and "bleeds Hofstra blue and gold". D'Amato was a football and lacrosse all-conference selection at Hofstra and is one of only four Hofstra alumni to ever earn a Super Bowl ring. In 2004 Hofstra honored D'Amato with the Joseph M. Margiotta Distinguished Service Award.

See also

• Other American Football League players

External links

• New York Jets bio