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Baltimore Colts RB/fill-in QB Tom Matte, Dead At Age 82 

Tom Matte, who went through his whole 12-year NFL profession as an abrasive running back for the Baltimore Colts — aside from a star turn for three games in 1965 as their quarterback — has kicked the bucket. He was 82. 안전놀이터

The Baltimore Ravens affirmed Matte's demise during mentor John Harbaugh's news gathering Wednesday. No subtleties were given. 

"I simply need to get going with sympathies to the Matte family. Tom Matte died," Harbaugh said. "We have an exceptional bond. My mother and Tom Matte went to secondary school together." 

In the wake of scoring three scores to convey Baltimore past Cleveland in the 1968 NFL title game, Matte turned into the main player to top the 100-yard hurrying imprint in a Super Bowl, adding up to 116 yards in a tremendous surprise misfortune to Joe Namath and the New York Jets. He procured a title ring with the 1970 Colts notwithstanding being sidelined with a physical issue for the greater part of the period. 

In spite of the fact that he scrambled for 4,646 yards, gotten 249 passes for 2,869 yards and scored 57 scores, Matte invested the vast majority of his energy with the Colts working in the shadow of future Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, Raymond Berry and John Mackey. 

"I was somewhat the handyman and expert of none," Matte said. "I wasn't the hotshot in no way, shape or form." 

Matte was drafted seventh by and large by Baltimore in 1961 in the wake of showing more ability at running than passing as Ohio State's quarterback in the single-wing offense run by mentor Woody Hayes. The Colts had Unitas tossing the ball, so Matte's work during his initial five NFL seasons generally elaborate taking handoffs and getting short passes. 

Late in the 1965 season, be that as it may, Matte was called upon to show his ability running the offense following wounds to Unitas and reinforcement quarterback Gary Cuozzo. 

Wearing his standard No. 41 pullover and settling on decisions in the cluster off a wristband that recorded the plays - a frill that actually lives in the NFL Hall of Fame yet was uncommon for that time - Matte aided the Colts beat the Rams 20-17 in the season finale. Matte tossed just two passes, both inadequate, yet scrambled for 99 yards on 16 conveys to push Baltimore into a tie for the lead position with the Green Bay Packers in the Western Division. 

In the season finisher at Green Bay to conclude which group would progress to the NFL title game, Matte finished 5 of 12 passes for 40 yards and ran for 57 yards on 17 conveys in a 13-10 misfortune. The Packers constrained extra time with a field objective late in the final quarter, a kick the Colts fought cruised wide of the uprights. 

"Consider it," Berry said. "We came extremely close to playing for the big showdown with Tom Matte at quarterback. That is perhaps the darnedest thing to occur throughout the entire existence of football." 

Matte shut the season by acquiring MVP respects in the now ancient Playoff Bowl, a matchup between the runner up groups from every gathering. Matte organized a 35-3 defeat of Dallas, tossing for 165 yards and two scores. 

Already as an expert, Matte had infrequently shown his expertise as a passer in the wake of taking a pitch. Against Dallas, he got things going in the wake of taking the snap from focus. 

"A ton of our passes today were the halfback choice," he said after the game. "The main contrast was that I ran them from quarterback." 

The 6-foot, 214-pound Matte was a processor as a running back. His straight-ahead, bullish style didn't enroll many style focuses and procured him the epithet "Trash bin." Though he never had a 1,000-yard season, Matte scrambled for 909 yards with 11 scores in 1969, a 14-game season, as well as getting 43 passes for 513 yards and two scores. 

Thomas Roland Matte was brought into the world in Pittsburgh on June 14, 1939. His dad played hockey for the Detroit Cougars, who in the end developed into the Red Wings. 

Matte adored hockey however acquired honors at Ohio State for football. He favored being a running back, however in the 1959 opener against Duke, Matte took over at quarterback after the starter was harmed and the reinforcement neglected to move the group. 

The Buckeyes followed 13-7 preceding Matte covered a 63-yard drive with a 22-yard score pass in the winding down minutes for a 14-13 triumph. 

Reviewing the second Hayes requested that he play quarterback, Matte at first denied. 

"I said, 'I would prefer not to play quarterback.' I had little hands and tossing a twisting was hard enough for me to do," Matte said. "He says, 'Indeed, we don't care to toss the ball in any case.' We generally had that subject of three yards and a dust storm." 

Matte went 28 for 51 that season, tossing for 439 yards and four scores. He likewise ran for 190 yards and a score. 

Hayes was so intrigued, he made Matte the starter in 1960, and the senior reacted by driving Ohio State to a 7-2 record. Upon the arrival of the 1961 NFL draft, in any case, the Colts clarified that he was done as a quarterback - besides if there should arise an occurrence of crisis. 

Matte was chosen to the Pro Bowl in 1968 and 1969. He finished his vocation following a 1972 season in which he played in just six games. 

After his retirement, Matte was a shading examiner for Baltimore Ravens radio stations from 1996 to 2005. 

"Tom was one of this present local area's saints," Ravens proprietor Steve Bisciotti said in an assertion. "I was so eager to meet him at Colts instructional course when I was a child. The manner in which he accepted us was genuinely uncommon. Numerous years after the fact, when the Ravens came to Baltimore in 1996, it was astounding to then see our group embrace him."