Nick Liotta

Nick Liotta
Position: Guard, Linebacker
Personal information
Date of birth: January 28, 1928
Place of birth: Everett, Massachusetts
Date of death: November 28, 1951 (age 23)
Place of death: Radnor Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight: 225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High school: Everett High School (Massachusetts))
College: Villanova University
Career history
Career highlights and awards

Domenic A. "Nick" Liotta (January 28, 1928 – November 28, 1951) was an American football player.

A native of Everett, Massachusetts, he attended Villanova University where he played college football as a guard and linebacker. He developed a reputation as a 60-minute player and served as co-captain of Villanova's 1951 football team.[1][2] He was selected by the Football Writers Association of America as a first-team guard and by the Chicago Tribune (based on votes of fellow players) as a first-team linebacker on their respective 1951 College Football All-America Teams.[3][4]

Prior to the end of the 1951 season, and shortly after accepting an invitation to play in the East–West Shrine Game, Liotta committed suicide by hanging himself with telephone wire from a pipe in the basement of his dormitory. He was reported to have been ill and depressed prior to his suicide. Villanova cancelled the final game of the season following Liotta's suicide.[1][2] Liotta had returned three days earlier from a loss against LSU in Louisiana, and some called for curtailing extensive travel schedules for college athletes, noting that Liotta was "dog tired" from the travel, playing 60 minutes a game, and maintaining the highest academic ranking of any player on the Villanova team.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "22-Year-Old Nick Liotta Takes Life; Villanova Cancels Game". Wilmington Morning Star. November 29, 1951. p. 1.
  2. 1 2 "Death of an Iron Man". Time. December 10, 1951.
  3. ↑ "Look Picks Two Teams". Long Beach Press-Telegram. December 5, 1951.
  4. ↑ Arch Ward (December 9, 1951). "Players Name 1951 All-America Teams: Football Stars Who Rate as Nation's Best Offensive Group--Their Opponents Say So!". Chicago Daily Tribune.
  5. ↑ "Liotta Death Brings Probe". The Cornell Daily Sun. November 30, 1951.
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