Brian Piccolo

Louis Brian Piccolo (October 31, 1943 – June 16, 1970) was a professional football player for the Chicago Bears for 4 years. He died from embryonal cell carcinoma, which was found as a large tumor in his chest cavity. He was the subject of the 1971 TV movie Brian's Song. Piccolo was portrayed in the original film by James Caan and by Sean Maher in the 2001 remake.

Early life

Brian Piccolo – the youngest of three sons – was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on Halloween 1943. The family moved south to Fort Lauderdale, Florida when Brian was twelve, due to his parents' concerns for his brother Don's health. Brian and his brothers were into athletics and Brian was a star running back in high school on the football team, but considered baseball his primary sport. He graduated from the former Central Catholic High School (now St. Thomas Aquinas High School) in Fort Lauderdale in 1961.^[1]

Piccolo played college football at Wake Forest; his only other scholarship offer was from Wichita State. He led the nation in rushing and scoring during his senior season in 1964 and was named the ACC Player of the Year, yet went unselected in the 1965 NFL Draft. In 1963 Darryl Hill of the University of Maryland was the first and only African-American football player in the Atlantic Coast Conference. According to Lee Corso, who was an assistant coach at Maryland at that time, Wake Forest had the "worst atmosphere" of any place the Maryland football team played. Piccolo walked over to the Maryland bench, walked Hill over to the area in front of the student section, and put his arm around him, silencing the crowd.^[2]

Following his senior season, Brian Piccolo married his high school sweetheart, Joy Murrath, on December 26, 1964. They had three daughters: Lori, Traci, & Kristi.

NFL career

Because he was not selected in the 1965 NFL Draft, Piccolo tried out for the Chicago Bears as a free agent. He made the team for the 1965 season, but only earned a spot on the taxi squad, better known today as the practice squad, meaning he could practice but not suit up for games. In 1966, Piccolo was on the main roster but played primarily on special teams. By 1967, his playing time increased as a back-up to starting tailback Gale Sayers, and in 1969, he was moved up to starting fullback, with Sayers as the tailback.

At the time, the players were segregated by race for motel room assignments. At the suggestion of the team's captain, the policy was changed and each of players were re-assigned based on position, such that wide receivers would room together, quarterbacks would room together, et cetera. The running back position was the only one where one player was black (Sayers) and one player was white (Piccolo). When asked by a reporter what it was like to room with a black player, Piccolo joked, "It's not so bad as long as he doesn't use the bathroom."

When Sayers suffered a traumatic knee injury during the season, Piccolo, without telling Sayers, installed a rehabilitation station in Sayers' basement and acted as Sayers' personal physical therapist during his recovery. When Sayers won the George Halas Most Courageous Player award for his successful recovery from what should have been a career-ending injury, he dedicated it to Brian Piccolo.

Piccolo played in the NFL from 1966 to 1969 and scored five touchdowns.^[3]

Death and legacy

In 1969, the Chicago Bears were in the midst of a 1-13 season, which was the worst record in the history of one of the NFL's oldest franchises.^[4] Piccolo had finally earned a place in the starting lineup as an undersized fullback. During the ninth game in Atlanta on November 16th, he voluntarily removed himself from the game, something he had never done, which raised great concern among his teammates and coaches. He had extreme difficulty breathing on the field, so when the team returned to Chicago he was promptly sent for a medical examination, and was diagnosed with Embryonal cell carcinoma.^[5]

Soon after, Piccolo had surgery at Sloan-Kettering in New York City to remove the tumor. He had another surgery in April 1970 to remove his left lung and pectoral muscle. After being bothered by chest pain, Piccolo was re-admitted to the hospital in early June, and doctors determined the cancer had spread to other organs, most notably his liver. Brian Piccolo died on June 16, 1970, at the age of 26.

In 1980, students at Wake Forest, Piccolo's alma mater, began the Brian Piccolo Cancer Fund Drive in his memory.^[6] They raised money for the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Bowman Gray Medical Center of Wake Forest University. In addition, the Brian Piccolo Student Volunteer Program was established to provide undergraduates with an opportunity to work at the Cancer Center as volunteers.

In memory of Piccolo's accomplishments, the St. Thomas Aquinas High School football stadium in Fort Lauderdale is named after him. Also, at the end of every football game, the school's marching band plays "The Hands of Time", the theme from Brian's Song.

Brian Piccolo Park in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Cooper City, Florida, is named after Piccolo.

In 2006, Brian Piccolo's second cousin, also named Brian Piccolo, was a sophomore linebacker on the Plant High School, Tampa, Florida, football team which won the state championship in December.

Comcast SportsNet profiled Brian's legacy and the lasting impression he left in the June 2007 episode of 'net Impact.

Each season since 1972, the Atlantic Coast Conference has awarded the Brian Piccolo Award to the conference's "Most Courageous Player". In 2007, the recipient was Matt Robinson of Wake Forest, the fourth player from Piccolo's alma mater to be given the award. Since 1970, the Chicago Bears have also handed out an award by the same name to a rookie and (since 1992) a veteran who "best exemplifies the courage, loyalty, teamwork, dedication and sense of humor" of Piccolo. The winners are chosen by the Bears' veteran players. The 2007 recipients were Brian Urlacher and Greg Olsen.

An Italian-American Organization UNICO (an acronym for Unity, Neighborliness, Integrity, Charity, and Opportunity) honors his memory each year by awarding the Brian Piccolo Award to courageous and outstanding athletes of Italian-American lineage. In 2009 Brian's brother Don attended his first UNICO award ceremony in Rivervale, NJ, where he delivered a speech.

Brian's Song

The film Brian's Song, loosely based on Gale Sayers' autobiography, tells the story of the friendship between Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers. It first aired on ABC in 1971, starring James Caan as Brian Piccolo and Billy Dee Williams as Gale Sayers, and was such a success on television that it was later shown in theaters. A remake was filmed in 2001 for ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney starring Mekhi Phifer and Sean Maher.

Biography

Piccolo's biography, Brian Piccolo: A Short Season, was written by Jeanne Morris (the wife of Chicago Bear teammate Johnny Morris) and featured passages written by Piccolo himself for a planned autobiography.

References

External links

• Brian Piccolo biography at Bears History
• Brian's life a Song of friendship, courage - Brian Piccolo biography at ESPN.com
• Database Football.com - Brian Piccolo
• Pro Football Reference.com - Brian Piccolo
• Brian Piccolo at Find a Grave