1974 Profile: Andy Robustelli

ROBUSTELLI ALMOST DIDN'T MAKE IT TO PRO BALL

But, A Scout Finally Spotted Him At Arnold College

"Andy Robustelli almost didn't make it to the Pro Football Hame for the really excellent reason that he almost didn't play pro football.

Andy was drafted in the 19th round by the Los Angeles Rams in 1951 and the only 'bonus' he received was his air transportation to the California training camp of the Rams. Even if he stuck with the club, his starting salary was set at $4,250!

For long hours, Robustelli and his wife Jean weighed the possibility of a pro football career against a high school coaching job which 'would offer more security.' Even some of his closest friends advised him to take the job in his home state of Connecticut, where he really preferred to live.

Once he made the decision to join the Rams- camp opened on his second wedding anniversary- Robustelli immediately had reason to doubt the wisdom of his choice. He had been considered an outstanding offensive end in college but with the Rams, he would have to compete with a host of talented veterans, including future Hall of Famers Tom Fears and Elroy (Crazylegs) Hirsch.

How could a raw rookie from a small college beat out those guys?

The answer, of course, was that he couldn't and Rams Coach Joe Stydahar immediately informed him of this.

'If you make it AT ALL,' he instructed Robustelli, 'it will be as a defensive end and that is where we are going to give you your shot.'

Disappointed, disturbed but realistic- so realistic, in fact, that he didn't even unpack his bags for more than two weeks- Robustelli responded in the only way he knew how- to go all out to make good at what was available to him- the defensive unit.

The first time the Rams held a scrimmage game, Robustelli, a bruising 6-0, 230-pounder, was all over the field. He knocked down ball carriers, smothered passers and left blockers sprawled on the turf. After the scrimmage he unpacked his bags.

The rest is history.

Andy was a regular for the championship Los Angeles team in 1951 and the one game he missed that season was the only game he missed in the next 14 National Football League campaigns. After five excellent seasons in Los Angeles, Robustelli yearned to play nearer his home in Stamford, Conn., and this yearning finally prompted a trade between the Rams and the Giants. The Rams got a No. 1 draft choice, which turned out to be, incidentally, Del Shofner.

Robustelli, happy over his new surroundings, got even better in a Giants uniform. He is credited with molding together the 1956 New York club that won the NFL championship and he stayed in New York for nine more years, the last three as a player-coach.

The Giants' head coach Jim Lee Howell used to mention Robustelli this way:

'The only end I ever knew or played against who compares with Robustelli,' the Giants head man said, 'was Bill Hewitt. Hewitt was tremendous but I don't think he ever went over 195 pounds. Robustelli weighs 35 pounds more and yet is as quick as Hewitt was. Hewitt played back in the two-platoon days. Andy can put all of his energy into playing defense.'

Seven times in 14  years, Andy was named to the all-NFL team as a defensive end. Seven times he performed in the prestigious Pro Bowl.

A great team leader, Robustelli was one of the best pass rushing ends the game has seen. He did the job with a combination of strength and savvy.

'You've got to know when to rush,' Andy explained after he had become a player-coach. 'Over-anxiety can hurt you. Knowing when comes with experience, and nothing else.

'There is only one way to play this game,' Robustelli said many times, 'and that is as hard and as tough as you can.'

Long-time Giants coach Allie Sherman agreed and credited this trait as being a major factor in Andy's success.

'Watch Andy on the field,' Sherman pointed out, 'and you'll be studying a real master. Terrific speed of mind, hands and feet make him the best. But without this burning desire, without this extra determination, he'd be just an average football player.'

The fact that Andy was drafted by any pro team at all is somewhat of a miracle. Robustelli played high school football in his native Stamford and, after a Navy hitch, nearly matriculated at Villanova. But word from the Villanova coach was that he might need a year of brushing up in prep school sent Andy to Arnold College in Milford, Conn. (Arnold College is now part of the University of Bridgeport.)

Andy, who played end and captained the Arnold team for three years, specialized in tackling and blocking kicks but was also a very fine pass receiver. Still, Arnold was a small college and the NFL seemed eons away.

The NFL would probably have seemed just that- eons away- had it not been for a game at St. Michael's College in Winooski, Vt., which, ironically, turned out to be the game in which Andy broke a leg, the only serious injury he ever received in football. Rams scout Lou DeFillipo, the ex-Fordham great, was in the stands and saw enough of Robustelli before he got hurt to send a rave notice to Los Angeles.

Besides Robustelli and Hewitt, other pro football greats enshrined in the 1971 class included the late Vince Lombardi, Bruiser Kinard, Norm Van Brocklin, Y.A. Tittle and Jim Brown."

-Don Smith, Pro Football's Hall of Fame (Football Digest, October 1971)

Director of Operations

"Hall of Fame member ... perennial All-Pro ... team captain ... former assistant coach ... successful businessman ... those are the impressive credentials that Andy Robustelli brings with him in his new capacity as Director of Operations for the Giants.
As Director of Operations, Robustelli will oversee all field operations for the Giants including coaching, scouting, signing of players, trades, and the preseason training camp.
The 47-year-old Robustelli is one of the great success stories of professional football. A 19th round draft choice of the Los Angeles Rams in 1951 out of little Arnold College in Connecticut, he went on to star with the Rams through 1955, winning All-Pro honors and appearing in two championship games with Los Angeles. He came to the Giants in a 1956 trade and won All-Pro honors consistently. All told, he was an All-NFL selection nine times during his 14 seasons and appeared in the Pro Bowl nine times as well. He played in six championship games with the Giants, was team defensive captain for six years and was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1962.
Robustelli was elected to the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1971 and was additionally voted into the Helms Football Foundation Hall of Fame. His career with the Giants ended in 1964 after spending his final seasons as a player-defensive coach.
In recent years, Andy has served as President of Robustelli Travel Service, Inc., a group of five travel agencies in Connecticut and has also been associated with the Allied Chemical Company. For the past two years, he has also conducted his own TV show during the football seasons, but remains first and foremost a football man and has grown with professional football over the years.
Robustelli was born on December 6, 1926 in Stamford, Conn., graduated from the Stamford public school system and then attended LaSalle Military Academy in Oakdale, L.I., from September 1943 to January 1944. He joined the U.S. Navy in January 1944 and served for two years in the South Pacific, including the invasion of Okinawa. After his discharge, he matriculated to Arnold College and graduated with a B.S. degree, majoring in health and physical education. He was named to the Little All-American team for three years and also lettered in baseball.
Drafted by the Rams in 1951, he played five seasons with L.A., winning All-Pro honors three times and playing on two championship teams. Named MVP on defense for the Rams for three consecutive years, he came to the Giants in that 1956 trade, adding to his laurels with six more All-Pro honors and six more championship game appearances. He was an assistant coach-player for his final four seasons.
In addition to his business and television interests, Andy has been the Connecticut chairman of the United Fund and is also a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness where he organized a business task force for that Council group."

-1974 New York Giants Media Guide