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| A young Art Donovan before a game in 1958 Photo Credit: wbaltv.com |
"We lost one of the great all-time characters in football today,"former teammate John Mackey said to the Baltimore Sun.
Hall of Fame defensive tackle Art Donovan died on Sunday in a local hospital in Baltimore Maryland.
Donovan spent 13 years crushing offensive lineman for the Baltimore Colts but he spent 89 years telling everyone around him about his life, what he did right and what he did wrong.
Donovan was born June 5, 1924 in the Bronx, New York, his dad was a famous boxing referee for over 50 years.
Before being known has a great defensive lineman, Donovan served in the military during World War II.
While on the Letterman Show, Donovan divulged some of his memories when we was in the military.
His favorite story took place days before the United States was set to invade Japan and Donovan being the big 280 pound man he is was very hungry.
In order to satisfy his need for food, Donovan decided to steal some spam.
His platoon leader eventually found the case of spam hidden in his barracks and he was summoned for discipline. It turned out that Donovan was related to someone that the disciplinarian knew so he decided to cut him a break.
Donovan was ordered to eat the entire 30 lb. case in just under nine days or he would be sent to the brink.
And that is exactly what he did.
When asked by Letterman if it was worth it, Donovan said, "Oh yeah I love spam."
Letterman had Art on his show over 10 times and he became somewhat of a regular.
In an interview with the Baltimore Sun, former Colts receiver Raymond Berry tried asking about his experience in World War II and Donovan told him, "Well, I got shot in the butt in Okinawa," Berry said that type of comment was typical Artie Donovan.
Donovan was drafted in the third round in the 1950 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts.
In his rookie season the Colts didn't do so well and finished with an 1-11 record. The next two years in which he spent with the New York Yanks and the Dallas Texans were very similar in that there were very few games Art's team came out victorious.
Upon returning to the Colts in 1953, Donovan, when asked to reflect on his last three years, told the Baltimore Sun, "I helped kill three teams."
One thing was for sure, if you were around Art Donovan or even listening to him there was a good chance you would be laughing.
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| Art Donovan's book, Fatso. Photo Credit: wbal.com |
Some stories entailed ones of his teammates putting a dead animal in his bed and telling him there was a six pack of beer under his sheets.
There was a story of how he put a bat in his teammates room and unscrewed the light bulb so he couldn't see.
Donovan admitted that in college he used to sleep with the television on because it was good for warming up left over pizza.
The stories are endless with Art Donovan.
After rejoining the Colts in Baltimore, Donovan excelled on the field, which eventually led to his Hall of Fame induction in 1968.
After his playing days were over Donovan stayed in Baltimore and had his fingerprint all over the city.
"Artie is one of my favorite athletes of all-time simply due to his personality," 77 year-old Stewart Reed said, who was been a Baltimore sports fan ever since he was a little boy.
Donovan ran and operated a family liquor store and owned Valley Country Club, which he ran with his wife in Towson, MD, that was about 20 minutes from Baltimore.
"Art was the gut you could run into at a bar and end up having a bunch of drinks with, he's just that approachable," Buddy McGowan said.
| Art Donovan at family owned liquor store in Towson, MD. Photo Credit: Baltimore Sun |
When asked about steroids in the game of football Donovan said on the Letterman Show, "Hey, if I need to get pumped up I'll just drink a case of beer,"
You can tell why Donovan became a regular on the Letterman Show with a personality bigger than his 6 foot 2 275 lb. frame. His personality drew people in and made them want to talk and listen to him.
Another great story Donovan told on the Letterman Show was one where he was traveling overseas and that he travels with his favorite foods, which include hot dogs, italian salami and pepperoni. Donovan was forced to give up the food because he wasn't allowed to travel with it.
He proceeded to say that people tend to call those types of food junk food but he calls them gourmet food.
Donovan has also been quoted saying that he's a light eater, "When it's light, I eat," he told the Baltimore Sun.
"He was a classic — a great, fun loving human being. If they can laugh in heaven, he'll get them going," former teammate Alex Sandusky said of Donovan at his funeral.
You would be hard pressed to find someone with something negative to say about Art Donovan.
His wife, Dorothy Schaech, who he had been married to for 57 years, survived Art. Donovan met his wife after going on a blind date with her.
"If my wife doesn't send me off with a case of Schlitz in the coffin, I'm gonna haunt her," said Donovan when reminiscing about his later years.
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