Art Donovan

I spoke to Art Donovan last week after seeing him having a good, old time with Michael Strahan in the ESPN special on the 1958 NFL title game, The Greatest Game Ever Played. Donovan said he told the gap-toothed former Giant: "With all your money, why don't you get another tooth?" Donovan also said he turned down an invitation to attend a screening of the documentary in New York because he was taking two of his grandchildren to Disney World. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/mediumwell)

Sisto Joseph Averno Sr., a guard who played on the Baltimore Colts in the 1950s and went on to sell Chevrolets for 57 years, died of complications from Parkinson's disease Monday at Northwest Hospital. He was 86 and lived in Pikesville. Born in Paterson, N.J., he was the son of Roberto Averno and Elvira Isabella Salerno. While a student at Paterson High School, he played football and was scouted by colleges. He won athletic scholarships, but he forged a birth certificate so he could enlist in the Navy during World War II. He was assigned to the South Pacific and served as a gunner's mate aboard a destroyer.

Former Baltimore Colts great Art Donovan was hospitalized yesterday after complaining of chest pains, but was expected to be released today, Channel 13 reported.Donovan did not suffer a heart attack, but was admitted for observation and listed in stable condition at Saint Joseph Hospital. The ex-lineman said last night that he felt fine and hoped to supervise construction of a pool at his Baltimore County home today.Donovan has previously been hospitalized with a heart condition.

Sports Legends Museum L. Mitchell to attend tribute to former Colts The Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation announced Wednesday that former Baltimore Colts running back Lydell Mitchell and NFL senior adviser Joe Browne will be part of "A Legendary Evening: Celebrating our Baltimore Colts Hall of Famers" on Dec.6 at Martin's West. The evening will pay tribute to former Colts Art Donovan , Lenny Moore , Gino Marchetti , Raymond Berry , Weeb Ewbank , John Mackey and Jim Parker as they are inducted into the Hall of Legends, an area at Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards reserved for the elite of Maryland's sports culture.

At age 84, Baltimore Colts' Hall of Fame defensive tackle Art Donovan says he doesn't need a lot. Since retiring from football in 1962, he has been an author, country club owner, speaker and TV commentator. Today he lives with his wife, Dorothy, at the Valley Country Club in Towson, which they own. "It's right up against [Interstate] 695. ... The traffic sounds like music. ... It takes me back to New York," says Donovan, who grew up in the Bronx. 1 To be able to walk again on my own: "I had an accident on a cruise ship almost a year ago, and I have to use a walker to get around."

Colts legend Art Donovan never thought he'd get his ring back. The cherished keepsake of the 1958 NFL championship game — often called "the greatest game ever played" — was stolen from a Hong Kong hotel room in 1977. Donovan assumed it was gone forever. But 34 years later, the ring has been returned to its rightful owner after it showed up for sale on the Internet. A Howard County police detective followed up on a tip and found the ring, engraved with the defensive tackle's name and jersey number, listed for $25,000 on Craigslist.

ESPN will air The Greatest Game Ever Played on Dec. 13 at 9 p.m. However, Baltimore Colts fans should be forewarned. ESPN has assembled several of the Colts and Giants who played in the 1958 NFL championship game to discuss it - including Raymond Berry, Gino Marchetti, Lenny Moore and Art Donovan. However, ESPN brought those former Baltimore greats and some '58 Giants together with modern counterparts from the past two Super Bowl champs - and that means members of the Indianapolis Colts.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. -- It's an interesting story: There sat Al Besselink, a pro golfer, at the Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles. Beside him was good friend and NFL quarterback John Brodie. Before them a television aired the overtime of the famous 1958 NFL championship game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants. Colts ball. Giants' 8-yard line. History calling. "They'll kick a field goal and win," Brodie said. "They ain't kicking a field goal," Besselink said. First down: Alan Ameche runs for 1 yard.

A 50th anniversary celebration honoring the 1958 Baltimore Colts NFL championship team will be held Saturday, Dec. 27, at M&T Bank Stadium, organizers announced yesterday. Tickets will go on sale in October. Most of the 18 surviving Colts are expected to attend, along with members of the New York Giants, who fell to Baltimore, 23-17, in overtime. That game, played in New York on Dec. 28, 1958, is considered to have launched the NFL toward becoming America's most popular sport. "Nostalgia for the old Colts is still very heavy, but this is more than just a Baltimore event," said Dorsey Baldwin, co-chairman of the 50th Anniversary Greatest Game Ever Played Committee.

ON THE OPENING day of the 1962 NFL season, the Baltimore Colts held an emotional pre-game ceremony at which they retired the jersey number of four-time All-Pro defensive tackle Art Donovan. Eloquently, he expressed the spiritual bond among the faithful congregation that attended and followed the Colts' Sunday services: "There's a lady up in Heaven," he said, "who wants to thank all the people of Baltimore for being so good to her boy." Then Donovan, an ex-Marine and 12-year veteran in the trenches of professional football, wept, along with most of the more than 54,000 present at the stadium.

Colts legend Art Donovan never thought he'd get his ring back. The cherished keepsake of the 1958 NFL championship game — often called "the greatest game ever played" — was stolen from a Hong Kong hotel room in 1977. Donovan assumed it was gone forever. But 34 years later, the ring has been returned to its rightful owner after it showed up for sale on the Internet. A Howard County police detective followed up on a tip and found the ring, engraved with the defensive tackle's name and jersey number, listed for $25,000 on Craigslist.

Well, that one struck a nerve. Write a column listing the coolest athletes ever to play in Maryland and you expect to get reaction. Oh, did I get reaction. My in-box blew up. I got phone calls. A guy cornered me at the 7-Eleven and said: "Two words: No Rick Dempsey?" "That's three words," I said. "And how did you get past my security detail?" Then I remembered I didn't have a security detail. But back to the list, which appeared in Thursday's column and was a direct rip-off of GQ magazine's list of 25 all-time coolest athletes.

The Baltimore Sun An out-of-work bridge painter shot a question at Art Donovan, the Baltimore Colts legend making a visit to a city emergency services outreach center Friday morning. "So, when were you inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?" asked Thurmond Lamar Brown. Donovan, who sat next to his friend and former teammate Jim Mutscheller at the Franciscan Center on West 23rd Street, never missed a beat. "Right after the Civil War," he said. For about two hours, Colts veterans Donovan, Mutscheller, Lenny Moore , Toni Linhart and Doug Eggers helped this 42-year-old social services center get back in the business of serving meals to the city's poor five days a week.

No game is bigger for a Baltimore NFL fan than Colts vs. Ravens. With Sunday's game at M&T Bank Stadium, and the Colts holding a six-game winning streak in the series, we thought we'd look at the best players to grace Baltimore uniforms, either Colts or Ravens. Since the Ravens are still waiting for their first player who predominantly wore purple and black throughout his career to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it was much easier to come up with Colts. Begin the debate. We're sure we left somebody out. 1. John Unitas : The greatest quarterback to play the game.

When Kelly Gregg and I stroll into the Owings Mills Red Robin on a recent muggy summer afternoon, I contemplate telling our waitress that she might want to alert the cooks, just in case they need backup. I've been dreaming of this moment for months, maybe even years, since hearing tales of Baltimore Colts writers describing the eating habits and antics of Art Donovan, the beefy, everyman hero of his time. Donovan could eat 25 hot dogs in one sitting. He once ordered three pizzas, polished off two of them, then saved the third for breakfast the next morning.

When Kelly Gregg and I stroll into the Owings Mills Red Robin on a recent muggy summer afternoon, I contemplate telling our waitress that she might want to alert the cooks, just in case they need backup. I've been dreaming of this moment for months, maybe even years, since hearing tales of Baltimore Colts writers describing the eating habits and antics of Art Donovan, the beefy, everyman hero of his time. Donovan could eat 25 hot dogs in one sitting. He once ordered three pizzas, polished off two of them, then saved the third for breakfast the next morning.I want Kelly Gregg to be the modern-day Art Donovan - telling stories about fishing and wrestling in central Oklahoma as he orders a third plate of ribs and then dips them in gravy.

Sisto Joseph Averno Sr., a guard who played on the Baltimore Colts in the 1950s and went on to sell Chevrolets for 57 years, died of complications from Parkinson's disease Monday at Northwest Hospital. He was 86 and lived in Pikesville. Born in Paterson, N.J., he was the son of Roberto Averno and Elvira Isabella Salerno. While a student at Paterson High School, he played football and was scouted by colleges. He won athletic scholarships, but he forged a birth certificate so he could enlist in the Navy during World War II. He was assigned to the South Pacific and served as a gunner's mate aboard a destroyer.

When Kelly Gregg and I stroll into the Owings Mills Red Robin on a recent muggy summer afternoon, I contemplate telling our waitress that she might want to alert the cooks, just in case they need backup. I've been dreaming of this moment for months, maybe even years, since hearing tales of Baltimore Colts writers describing the eating habits and antics of Art Donovan, the beefy, everyman hero of his time. Donovan could eat 25 hot dogs in one sitting. He once ordered three pizzas, polished off two of them, then saved the third for breakfast the next morning.I want Kelly Gregg to be the modern-day Art Donovan - telling stories about fishing and wrestling in central Oklahoma as he orders a third plate of ribs and then dips them in gravy.

I spoke to Art Donovan last week after seeing him having a good, old time with Michael Strahan in the ESPN special on the 1958 NFL title game, The Greatest Game Ever Played. Donovan said he told the gap-toothed former Giant: "With all your money, why don't you get another tooth?" Donovan also said he turned down an invitation to attend a screening of the documentary in New York because he was taking two of his grandchildren to Disney World. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/mediumwell)

ESPN will air The Greatest Game Ever Played on Dec. 13 at 9 p.m. However, Baltimore Colts fans should be forewarned. ESPN has assembled several of the Colts and Giants who played in the 1958 NFL championship game to discuss it - including Raymond Berry, Gino Marchetti, Lenny Moore and Art Donovan. However, ESPN brought those former Baltimore greats and some '58 Giants together with modern counterparts from the past two Super Bowl champs - and that means members of the Indianapolis Colts.