Anthony Curcillo Jr. is a former football player in the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 and Canadian Football League

Canadian Football League

The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

.

Career

Curcillo was the starting quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes football

Ohio State Buckeyes football

The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...

 team in 1950 and 1951 and played linebacker, tailback, and center in 1952. Although recruited by Wes Fesler

Wes Fesler

Wesley Eugene "Wes" Fesler was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach of football and basketball. He was three-sport athlete at Ohio State University and a consensus first-team selection to the College Football All-America Team three straight years...

, he would become Woody Hayes

Woody Hayes

Wayne Woodrow "Woody" Hayes was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University , Miami University , and Ohio State University , compiling a career college football record of 238–72–10.During his 28 seasons as the head coach of the Ohio...

' first starting quarterback at Ohio State when Hayes was hired in 1951. Curcillo's running back from during the 1950 and 1951 seasons was Vic Janowicz

Vic Janowicz

Victor Felix "Vic" Janowicz was an American football halfback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Ohio State University and was drafted in the seventh round of the 1952 NFL Draft...

, the winner of the 1950 Heisman Trophy

Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

 and Curcillo's former teammate at Elyria High School

Elyria High School

Elyria High School is a high school in Elyria, Ohio. Founded in 1830, it is notable for being the first chartered high school west of the Allegheny Mountains...

.

Curcillo was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals in the 6th round of the 1953 NFL Draft

1953 NFL Draft

The 1953 National Football League Draft was held on January 22, 1953.-Player selections:-Round one:* HOF Member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:-Round five:-Round six:-Round seven:...

. He could not beat out fellow rookies Jim Root and Ray Nagel

Ray Nagel

Raymond Robert "Ray" Nagel is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Utah from 1958 to 1965 and at the University of Iowa from 1966 to 1970, compiling a career college football record of...

 for playing time at quarterback, so Curcillo played the 1953 season at defensive back and halfback.

After the 1953 season, Curcillo joined the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

. He was stationed at Fort Carson, where he played quarterback for the base football team in 1954 and 1955.

Curcillo rejoined the Cardinals in 1956, but did not receive any playing time behind Lamar McHan

Lamar McHan

Clarence Lamar McHan was a professional American football quarterback in the National Football League. McHan played football collegiately at the University of Arkansas. He was ninth in the 1953 Heisman Trophy balloting.McHan played for the Green Bay Packers from 1959-1960...

. Midway through the season he joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...

 of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union, a forerunner of the present day Canadian Football League. He replaced the controversial Ronnie Knox

Ronnie Knox

Ronald "Ronnie" Knox is a former National Football League and Canadian Football League quarterback.-High school phenom:...

 and on November 17, 1956 he passed for 518 yards in a playoff game against the Montreal Alouettes

Montreal Alouettes

The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...

, still a CFL playoff record. When Bernie Faloney

Bernie Faloney

Bernie Faloney was a professional football player in the Canadian Football League and an outstanding American college football player at the University of Maryland...

joined the Tiger-Cats in 1957, Curcillo moved to linebacker while also serving as the team's backup quarterback.