The gentle giant
West Sider was all muscle at 6-3, 265 pounds, though 'you had to make him mad'
His memories of Chicago weren't all happy ones. In fact, in many ways, his life didn't really begin until he joined the Marines and escaped the tough West Side neighborhood where he grew up, beginning a career that would take him to the University of Minnesota, the San Francisco 49ers and three athletic halls of fame. But even after he became an institution in his adopted city of San Francisco, Leo Nomellini, one of the greatest linemen in NFL history, always considered himself a Chicago guy.
''He felt like his roots were in Chicago,'' said his daughter, Lane Nomellini-Krumpotich. ''He told me if he hadn't been drafted by the 49ers, he would've been a Bear and he would've played for [George] Halas. He would've been fine with that because it felt like home to him. He was born in Lucca [Italy], but he felt like a Chicago guy. That's where he was from.''
(Sun-Times file)
The 24th greatest athlete in Chicago history lived briefly in downstate Gilman before arriving on the West Side as a child. Nomellini never played organized athletics in Chicago. He desperately wanted to play at Crane Tech but worked at a foundry to help support his family instead. He was introduced to football after enlisting in the Marines. He enrolled at Minnesota after being in combat in the South Pacific during World War II and later competed in the first college football game he ever witnessed. Almost immediately he was being compared to the Paul Bunyanesque legend of Minnesota native Bronko Nagurski.
Nomellini went on to become a two-time All-America lineman in football, was a Big Ten wrestling champion, threw the shot put and ran the anchor leg of the school's 440-yard relay team before the San Francisco 49ers made him their No. 1 pick in the 1950 draft.
He would play in every 49ers game for the next 14 seasons, earning All-NFL honors six times -- twice on offense and four times on defense. He played in 10 Pro Bowls, was named to the NFL's all-time team at defensive tackle and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969.
''There wasn't anybody stronger than Leo. I guarantee it,'' said former 49ers roommate and Hall of Famer Bob St. Clair. ''The only problem he had was he was a gentle giant. You had to make him mad to get him to excel. I would always come up with some things during the game. 'Hey, Leo, I'm going to kill that guy if he says one more word about your sister.' Leo would say, 'What did he say? What did he say? I'm going to kill him!'''
Nomellini was quick for a big man, but it was his strength that separated him from his peers and made him the dominant lineman of his era. In 1955, a scientist strapped him to his muscle-measuring machine and asked 6-3, 265-pounder to test it.
''The two-by-fours started flying, the wires broke, the scales fell off and the doctor's eyes popped out,'' former 49ers general manager Lou Spadia told the New York Times. ''I remember having to duck pieces of flying wood. Leo just exploded the machine, blew it apart. [The scientist] had to start it all over again, with six-by-sixes instead of two-by-fours, and thicker wires. He made a big mistake in telling Leo to pull as hard as he could.''
Nomellini kept in shape in the offseason by performing as ''Leo the Lion'' on the pro wrestling circuit. He won a tag-team title and an individual title during his career. Nomellini, who passed away in 2000 at age 76, was inducted posthumously into the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa, last month.
''We'd be in the room and I'd be watching some John Wayne movie, and all of a sudden he'd jump me from behind and grab my neck and do a strangle hold,'' St. Clair said. ''He'd say, 'Hey Bob, try to get out of this one.' We broke a lot of furniture.''
Although he moved his mother and sister to San Francisco after being drafted by the 49ers, Nomellini remained a frequent visitor to Chicago.
''His whole career, he always thought he would end up with Halas,'' said his son, Drew. ''He wanted to stay in that area. He fit the part. He was a Midwestern country boy who liked to fish and hunt.''
Career highlights: Nomellini never actually played football (or any other sport) at Crane Tech. He wasn't introduced to the sport until he joined the Marines in 1942. He later enrolled at the University of Minnesota in 1946 and was a four-year starter on the football team. He played both offensive and defensive tackle and was a consensus All-American in 1948 and 1949. He also won the Big Ten heavyweight wrestling championship and was a shot putter and the anchor man on the 440-yard relay team in track. The 6-3, 265-pounder was the first-ever draft pick of the 49ers, selected in 1950 (first round, 11th pick). He did not miss a game for the next 14 years and played in a then-NFL record 174 consecutive regular-season games. He was named to the Pro Bowl 10 times and was one of the few players to win All-NFL recognition on offense and defense, being named all-league at offensive tackle in 1951 and 1952, then receiving honors for his defensive play in 1953, 1954, 1957, and 1959. He was named to the NFL's all-time team at defensive tackle. Nomellini wrestled professionally as ''Leo the Lion'' during the offseason and competed in many championship matches. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969, the College Football Hall of Fame in 1977 and the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2008.