Rip Gino Cappelletti # 20...

[Pats Fanatic]

 

[40yrpatsfan]

God bkess you Gino. A true gentleman and forever Patriots legend.

I saw him play at Fenway park when I was 9

Same here. I'm gonna give Gino the highest praise by saying he was the Tommy Heinsohn of the Patriots. Great player, great announcer. Blood and guts Patriot. He was so proud seeing the team win SB 36.

 

[Joker]

One of my NFL heroes...a man's man the likes of which are few and far between THESE incredibly whiny pansy azzed days

 

[Patriot Missile]

So glad to have him with us all these years. Yeah, he’ll be missed, but what a life he lead. Thanks for everything.

 

[scott99]

A true Patriot. He was before my time as a player, became a Pat’s fan in 1975. But I’ve watched his highlights several times, and saw he was a GREAT player. Should be in the NFL Hall of Fame. Then of course became an excellent color commentator. I’m glad I have those early SB DVDs from the early 2000s so I get to hear the late greats Santos & Cappelletti. My thoughts go out to Gino’s family and friends.

 

[scott99]

GREAT video.

 

[captain stone]

One of my NFL heroes...a man's man the likes of which are few and far between THESE incredibly whiny pansy azzed days

Amen.

Gino was the last from my time, when the most intimate form of information-collecting was via the newspaper, and the radio.

They're all gone now: Curt Gowdy, Ken Coleman, Don Gillis, Ned Martin, Jim Woods, Bob Wilson, Fred Cusick, Johnny Most, Tom Heinsohn, Gil Santos...and Gino Cappelletti.

That's it. That's the list. There is no other.

I don't know if some of us would care as much about our teams were it not for the voices of those great men... They made you enjoy the experience of listening to the games; they made you hold your breath for a moment so you could better hear every pitch, pass and shot... They made winning sound like the best way to end a day, or a weekend; and they also helped you survive defeat, because they made losing sound almost noble for the effort expended in the playing, and in the broadcasting, and in the listening.

One of the few regrets I have for leaving home, besides not seeing more of my family, is not having heard more of their broadcasts before they all retired or moved on... But what a gift they gave me when I was around to enjoy them!

 

[Chevy]

Great player, great broadcaster, a true Patriot. HoF Committee - take note - Gino has been passed on for far too long. Fix it.

 

[Steve102]

Godspeed Gino. A true loss to Pats Nation.

 

[State]

I don’t like living in the world without Gino. His picture should be in the dictionary for “class.”

He and Gil were gold on the radio even in the bad years.

Their love for the team in its first Super Bowl victory truly made that season one for the ages.

For a game replace the logo with an image of him on the helmets.

That he is not in Canton is an example of AFL bias that is still with us.

 

[State]

Amen.

Gino was the last from my time, when the most intimate form of information-collecting was via the newspaper, and the radio.

They're all gone now: Curt Gowdy, Ken Coleman, Don Gillis, Ned Martin, Jim Woods, Bob Wilson, Fred Cusick, Johnny Most, Tom Heinsohn, Gil Santos...and Gino Cappelletti,

That's it. That's the list. There is no other.

I don't know if some of us would care as much about our teams were it not for the voices of the men on this list... They made you enjoy the experience of listening to the games; they made you hold your breath for a moment so you could better hear every pitch, pass and shot... They made winning sound like the best way to end a day, or a weekend; and they also helped you survive defeat, because they made losing sound almost noble for the effort expended in the playing, and in the broadcasting, and in the listening.

One of the few regrets I have for leaving home, besides not seeing more of my family, is not having listened to more of their broadcasts before they all retired or moved on... But what a gift they gave me when I was around to enjoy them!

This is one of the all-time great entries above.

There should be some subforum for memorable posts like this.

It reminds me of my youth in central Michigan as a rabid Celtics fan listening on the radio to Johnny Most’s broadcasts on WBZ.

There was a country station on 1030 am that conveniently went off the air at 1800 HRS I think it was. I would place my hand on the transistor radio in the corner of the kitchen. Otherwise, it wouldn’t come in.

And I would listen to the games. Game after game in 1980 and 1981.

I watched us beat the Houston Rockets I think it was 1981 to win the championship. It was on tv as a tape delay on a Landing, Michigan, radio station if you can believe it.

I went to school the following day on just a few hours’ sleep holding a Celtics banner.

People there worshipped Magic Johnson and by extension hated Larry Bird.

I defended the banner with violence that day when a bully grabbed it. I was little but filled with a strange intensity that made him back off right away.

Now kids got it too easy.

Same thing when I lived in New England in 1978 with the Red Sox with Ned Martin and Jim Woods.

What a gift these men were to a young fan with time and patience!

 

[captain stone]

It reminds me of my youth in central Michigan as a rabid Celtics fan listening on the radio to Johnny Most’s broadcasts on WBZ.

There was a country station on 1030 am that conveniently went off the air at 1800 HRS I think it was. I would place my hand on the transistor radio in the corner of the kitchen. Otherwise, it wouldn’t come in.

And I would listen to the games. Game after game in 1980 and 1981.

I watched us beat the Houston Rockets I think it was 1981 to win the championship. It was on tv as a tape delay on a Landing, Michigan, radio station if you can believe it.

I went to school the following day on just a few hours’ sleep holding a Celtics banner.

People there worshipped Magic Johnson and by extension hated Larry Bird.

I defended the banner with violence that day when a bully grabbed it. I was little but filled with a strange intensity that made him back off right away.

Now kids got it too easy.

Same thing when I lived in New England in 1978 with the Red Sox with Ned Martin and Jim Woods.

What a gift these men were to a young fan with time and patience!

I was able to do the same with WBZ at night when I was stationed at NAS Memphis TN in 1978 & 1979... That '78-79 team wasn't very good unfortunately; and the Bruins had moved from 'BZ to WITS the year before I think...

I respect the hell outta your courage in being a Cs fan in the middle of Tragic Johnson territory; Kudos!

 

[Steve102]

Amen.

Gino was the last from my time, when the most intimate form of information-collecting was via the newspaper, and the radio.

They're all gone now: Curt Gowdy, Ken Coleman, Don Gillis, Ned Martin, Jim Woods, Bob Wilson, Fred Cusick, Johnny Most, Tom Heinsohn, Gil Santos...and Gino Cappelletti.

That's it. That's the list. There is no other.

I don't know if some of us would care as much about our teams were it not for the voices of those great men... They made you enjoy the experience of listening to the games; they made you hold your breath for a moment so you could better hear every pitch, pass and shot... They made winning sound like the best way to end a day, or a weekend; and they also helped you survive defeat, because they made losing sound almost noble for the effort expended in the playing, and in the broadcasting, and in the listening.

One of the few regrets I have for leaving home, besides not seeing more of my family, is not having heard more of their broadcasts before they all retired or moved on... But what a gift they gave me when I was around to enjoy them!

I worked at the Chevy dealer in Laconia NH for a time, and Bob Wilson was a regular customer. He was always a gentleman, and everyone looked forward to having him around when he came in for service. I had no idea who he was. One of the reasons I became a Bruins fan was as a result of meeting him at work. I didn't know chit about hockey (still don't) and he was patient when I would ask dumb questions. We would chat for long periods of time about non-hockey related stuff. He always handled himself with class.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

Amen.

Gino was the last from my time, when the most intimate form of information-collecting was via the newspaper, and the radio.

They're all gone now: Curt Gowdy, Ken Coleman, Don Gillis, Ned Martin, Jim Woods, Bob Wilson, Fred Cusick, Johnny Most, Tom Heinsohn, Gil Santos...and Gino Cappelletti.

That's it. That's the list. There is no other.

I don't know if some of us would care as much about our teams were it not for the voices of those great men... They made you enjoy the experience of listening to the games; they made you hold your breath for a moment so you could better hear every pitch, pass and shot... They made winning sound like the best way to end a day, or a weekend; and they also helped you survive defeat, because they made losing sound almost noble for the effort expended in the playing, and in the broadcasting, and in the listening.

One of the few regrets I have for leaving home, besides not seeing more of my family, is not having heard more of their broadcasts before they all retired or moved on... But what a gift they gave me when I was around to enjoy them!

Captain, you've outdone yourself with this post. We were still dependent on radio, not all games were on TV (even NFL), and Boston's radio voices were unbelievably good. Including of course Gil and Gino. Gino's playing credentials were also pretty good:

With the launch of the American Football League in 1960, he joined the Boston Patriots and was initially a kicker and defensive back.[7][14][15] He switched to offense late in that season and teamed up with quarterback Babe Parilli to form a tandem nicknamed "Grand Opera Twins", due to their Italian surnames.[16] Cappelletti won AFL MVP honors in 1964,[2] led the league in scoring five times and was a five-time AFL All-Star. He holds the professional football record for points over a six-year period (9.5), points over an 11-year period (7.5) and percentage of his team's total points over an eight-year period (34%). One of 20 AFL players active during the entirety of the league's ten-year existence, Cappelletti was also among just three players who played in every one of his team's AFL games. He played with the Patriots all 11 years in Boston, from 1960 through the 1970 NFL merger season, and retired in late August 1971 at age 37;[1][17] he was the AFL's all-time leading scorer with 1,130 points (42 TDs, 176 FGs and 342 PATs) and among the AFL's top ten all-time receivers in yards and in receptions. Cappelletti had two of the top five scoring seasons in pro football history, with 155 points in 1964 and 147 points in 1961 (14-game seasons). His Patriots team scoring record lasted until it was broken by Adam Vinatieri on December 5, 2005. To date, as of the end of the 2017 season, Cappelletti is the Patriots' 11th all-time leading receiver in receptions with 292 catches and 9th in receiving yards with 4,589 yards. He is 5th in Patriots history in receiving touchdowns with 42 and has the most field goal attempts (334) in team history.[citation needed]

During Cappelletti's pro career, he also returned punts and kickoffs, played defensive back and even had one pass completion for a touchdown. Cappelletti was just the second AFL player to record three interceptions (of Tom Flores) in a regular-season game, holds the professional football record for most touchdowns in Saturday games (10), scored 18 points or more in a game ten times and scored 20 or more points in a game eight times. He set the AFL single-game record by scoring 28 points in the Patriots' 42–14 rout of Houston on December 18, 1965.[18] Cappelletti is the only player in professional football history to run for a two-point conversion, throw for a two-point conversion, catch a pass, intercept a pass, return a punt and return a kickoff in the same season. He kicked six field goals (without a miss) in a 39–10 win at Denver on October 4, 1964,[3] and became one of only two AFL kickers with at least four field goals per game for three consecutive games. Cappelletti kicked the longest field goal in the AFL in consecutive seasons and led the AFL in field-goal percentage in 1965.[citation needed]

In 1984, Cappelletti was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.[19] However, he was not selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame at the time of his death.[20]

 

[RobertWeathers]

Sad day.

Had a great, long life.

RIP Gino.

 

[captain stone]

I worked at the Chevy dealer in Laconia NH for a time, and Bob Wilson was a regular customer. He was always a gentleman, and everyone looked forward to having him around when he came in for service. I had no idea who he was. One of the reasons I became a Bruins fan was as a result of meeting him at work. I didn't know chit about hockey (still don't) and he was patient when I would ask dumb questions. We would chat for long periods of time about non-hockey related stuff. He always handled himself with class.

What a voice... And while Johnny Most certainly had the most unique sound of them all, Bob Wilson had the best pipes of them all... Deep, sharp, on top of the action, made you feel like you could follow along accurately in your mind's eye... And in hockey, that is extremely difficult to capture... We were all lucky little dudes back then.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I was able to do the same with WBZ at night when I was stationed at NAS Memphis TN in 1978 & 1979... That '78-79 team wasn't very good unfortunately

The nadir was when Phyllis George told hubby John Y. Brown that Bob McAdoo was 'cute', and he proceeded make a trade with the Knicks for him behind Red's back. Red was gone after that; only his sentiment (and genius, and determination and stubbornness [I'm not letting an idiot like this run me out of town!]) kept him here.

Listening to Johnny Most for those two seasons (1977-79), was like listening to your father. His calm, his reassurance, his nobility, and his compassion were probably the best radio work he ever did in a superlative career.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

It reminds me of my youth in central Michigan as a rabid Celtics fan listening on the radio to Johnny Most’s broadcasts on WBZ.

There was a country station on 1030 am that conveniently went off the air at 1800 HRS I think it was. I would place my hand on the transistor radio in the corner of the kitchen. Otherwise, it wouldn’t come in.

At night, AM airwaves can travel really far. I think I picked up WBZ in NC once, when I visited UNC. God, it was always so comforting to hear a friendly voice from home.

And I would listen to the games. Game after game in 1980 and 1981.

M.L. got hurt, and he was really important to that team. He came back and really saved us, especially in Game 5 when the Sixers were ready to put us away, he led the defense.

I watched us beat the Houston Rockets I think it was 1981 to win the championship. It was on tv as a tape delay on a Landing, Michigan, radio station if you can believe it.

Tape delayed on Atlanta TV too. I was a basketball junkie then, but the league didn't take off until a little later.

DJ beat us in the Garden with a buzzer beater for the Sonics, and I always liked him. Couldn't believe we got him three years later.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

What a voice... And while Johnny Most certainly had the most unique sound of them all, Bob Wilson had the best pipes of them all... Deep, sharp, on top of the action, made you feel like you could follow along accurately in your mind's eye... And in hockey, that is extremely difficult to capture... We were all lucky little dudes back then.

Bob was great at pronouncing "Gilles Gilbert!"

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

They're all gone now: Curt Gowdy, Ken Coleman, Don Gillis, Ned Martin, Jim Woods, Bob Wilson, Fred Cusick, Johnny Most, Tom Heinsohn, Gil Santos...and Gino Cappelletti.

Johnny Peirson was awesome, for me.

John Carlson did the Whalers, BC & the Pats, with Jon Morris (who's still with us, at 80)

Don Earle was pretty darned good.

& Johnny Bucyk is still with us too! He teamed up well with Bob. Always, a welcome, friendly, reassuring voice.