Remember him from his AFL days with the Boston Patriots.
Also backed up Joe Namath on the 68 Jets to get a Super Bowl ring
Just heard Vito "Babe" Parilli died at age 87
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single wing
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rhickok1109
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Re: Just heard Vito "Babe" Parilli died at age 87
I'm sad to hear that. I remember him well from his Packer days, when he split time at QB with Tobin Rote and was also the Packer punter.
The Packers at that time (1952 and 1953) held most of their practices outside City Stadium, in an open area between the stadium and the East High School tennis courts. After the rest of the team finished practicing, Parilli would stay outside with a big of footballs and practice punting all alone. No snapper; he'd just pick up a ball and punt. A friend and I would stand downfield to catch his punts and run them back to about where he was standing so he didn't have to chase down the balls.
A little over 10 years later, I was a feature writer for the New Bedford Standard-Times and I went up to Andover, Mass., to do a story about the Patriots' training camp. I introduced myself to Parilli and said, "I know you don't remember me, but I used to catch your punts when you practiced outside in Green Bay."
Parilli smiled and said, "That's something I miss about Green Bay...all those crazy little kids."
He was a great ball-handler at a time when that was a required QB skill. Twice while he was with the Packers he had apparent touchdown runs called back because the play had been blown dead by an official thinking that Parilli had handed the ball off when he had actually faked the handoff and kept the ball.
The Packers at that time (1952 and 1953) held most of their practices outside City Stadium, in an open area between the stadium and the East High School tennis courts. After the rest of the team finished practicing, Parilli would stay outside with a big of footballs and practice punting all alone. No snapper; he'd just pick up a ball and punt. A friend and I would stand downfield to catch his punts and run them back to about where he was standing so he didn't have to chase down the balls.
A little over 10 years later, I was a feature writer for the New Bedford Standard-Times and I went up to Andover, Mass., to do a story about the Patriots' training camp. I introduced myself to Parilli and said, "I know you don't remember me, but I used to catch your punts when you practiced outside in Green Bay."
Parilli smiled and said, "That's something I miss about Green Bay...all those crazy little kids."
He was a great ball-handler at a time when that was a required QB skill. Twice while he was with the Packers he had apparent touchdown runs called back because the play had been blown dead by an official thinking that Parilli had handed the ball off when he had actually faked the handoff and kept the ball.