Joe Fortunato (linebacker)
| No. 31 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | March 28, 1930 Mingo Junction, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | November 6, 2017 (aged 87) Natchez, Mississippi, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Mingo Junction | ||||||||
| College: | VMI (1949) Mississippi State (1950–1952) | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1952: 7th round, 80th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||
As a coach: | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Joseph Francis Fortunato Jr. (March 28, 1930 – November 6, 2017) was an American professional football player who spent his entire 12-year National Football League (NFL) career playing linebacker for the Chicago Bears. A five-time Pro Bowl selection, he was the captain and signal-caller for the Bears defense, leading to an NFL Championship in 1963. Fortunato is one of only four players, and the only defensive player named to the National Football League 1950s All-Decade Team who has not yet been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Prior to the NFL, Fortunato played fullback and linebacker for Mississippi State University, and made All-American in 1951.