Dante Bert Joseph "Gluefingers" Lavelli was an American football end who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference and National Football League from 1946 to 1956. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1975. Lavelli played football for Hudson High School in Hudson, Ohio. He graduated in 1941. Hudson High's current stadium is named in honor of him. Lavelli attended the Ohio State University, where the Browns' first coach Paul Brown was then coaching, but played just three games before a knee injury ended his season. While at Ohio State he was a member... of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity. He joined the U.S. Army before the start of the 1943 season to fight in World War II. He landed at Omaha Beach, and was in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Nicknamed "Gluefingers", Lavelli was an original member of the Browns franchise, where he starred alongside American football legends like Otto Graham, Lou Groza and Marion Motley.
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