Tony Adamle
Anthony "Tony" Adamle (May 15, 1924 – October 7, 2000) was a professional American football linebacker and fullback in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire career for the Cleveland Browns before retiring to pursue a medical degree.
Adamle grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and was a star fullback on his high school football team. He attended Ohio State University in 1942, but his college career was cut short by World War II. After a stint in the U.S. Air Force, Adamle returned to finish his education at Ohio State in 1946. He soon dropped out of school, however, and joined the Browns. Cleveland won AAFC championships in each of Adamle's first three years, after which the league folded and the Browns were absorbed by the more established NFL. Cleveland continued to succeed in the NFL, winning the 1950 championship and advancing to the 1951 championship but losing to the Los Angeles Rams. Adamle left the Browns after the 1951 season to pursue a medical degree, but he came out of retirement briefly in 1954 as the Browns won another NFL championship.
Adamle left football for good after the season, earning a medical degree from Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1956. He settled with his family in Kent, Ohio, where he ran a medical practice up until his death in 2000. He was a team physician for his local high school and for Kent State University for more than 35 years. Adamle's son Mike played in the NFL as a fullback in the 1970s before retiring and becoming a sports broadcaster.
Read more about Tony Adamle: Early Life and High School, College and Military Career, Professional Career, Medical Career, Later Life and Death