Free Republic

He was rugged, rangy and relentless in his pursuit of quarterbacks. For 13 years during their heyday, the Baltimore Colts were defined by a slab of a man known simply as Gino. No Colts player epitomized the club — or the city — better than Gino Marchetti, the Hall of Fame defensive end who died Monday of pneumonia. Marchetti, 93, passed away at Paoli Hospital in Paoli, Pa. “I kissed him and he knew me and smiled,” said Joan Marchetti, his wife of 41 years. “That was Gino’s way of saying goodbye.”

MARK SANCHEZ will get the start tomorrow in the preseason opener against the Colts, but Eagles coach Chip Kelly cautioned that Sanchez probably will take only a handful of snaps. The bulk of the quarterbacking will be done by Matt Barkley and Tim Tebow, who would seem to be fighting for a single roster spot as the Eagles' third QB. "I want to see what happens with those guys," Kelly said.

Art Donovan played pro football for 12 years. The rest of his life, he spent telling everyone about it. Donovan, 89, who died Sunday of a respiratory ailment at Stella Maris Hospice, played and talked a great game. He was a Hall of Fame defensive tackle for the Baltimore Colts and an engaging raconteur at banquets and on TV talk shows. His cherublike face, adenoidal voice and side-splitting tales of yore captivated generations of viewers who never saw Donovan collar a quarterback or take down a runner. "Artie made a career out of telling people everything that he'd done right...

Everybody has their favorite memory of Super Bowl III, aka the Game That Changed Pro Football Forever -- everybody who goes back that far, that is. Maybe it's Matt Snell scoring to put the Jets ahead of the Colts, the first time the AFL had ever led the NFL (in a Real Game, anyway). Or perhaps it's the shot of Joe Namath jogging off the field, right index finger aloft. For me, though, it's Curt Gowdy, NBC's play-by-play man, calling Sports Illustrated's Tex Maule a word that can't be used in this newspaper after the telecast was over -- but...

Hall of Fame broadcaster Chuck Thompson, who entertained Baltimore sports fans for more than 50 years, died Sunday.