Joe Fortunato - The Epitome of the Smart, Tough Outside Linebacker

By John Turney   

Joe Fortunato is a name young football fans aren't familiar with ... but should be. He's another in a long list of Hall-of-Fame worthy players who never have been discussed as finalists.

But should be.

Part of that has to do with his position. Fortunato played outside linebacker, not middle linebacker, in an era where guys in the middle got all the glamour ... and the ink. But he played it at an elite level for years, and it's time light was shed on his brilliant NFL career.

He starred in the 1950s and '60s when NFL teams began to transition to 4-3 defensive schemes but before the major wire services (AP, UPI and the NEA) specified one middle linebacker and two outside linebackers on their annual All-Pro teams.

They simply had three linebacker positions.

As a result, it was common to have three middle linebackers named first-team All-Pro, with outside linebackers left out of All-Pro consideration because of the voting format.

However, once the AP began to distinguish between the positions, Fortunato was named first-team All-Pro three consecutive seasons (1963-65) and second-team once (1962). If there had been a slot earlier than 1962, he likely would have been chosen All-Pro more.

In fact, his defensive coach, George Allen, said as much. He suggested that because the Bears had a perennial All-Pro in Bill George, voters might not vote for two linebackers on the same team. Yet, even with those factors, Fortunato was consensus All-Pro three times - the same number as Hall-of-Famer outside linebackers Ted Hendricks, Dave Wilcox, Dave Robinson and Chris Hanburger.

He was also a five-time Pro Bowler. And for good reason: Considered by some as the league's quietest and most efficient linebacker, Fortunato seldom committed costly mistakes.

"Mistakes make the difference," he said. "Mistakes and desire."

He is primarily known as a left linebacker, though earlier in his career he play both sides. That's when teams began to use tight ends more, forcing Fortunato into pass coverage as well as tackling ballcarriers and blitzing quarterbacks.

"(A linebacker) has to defend against the run and the pass," he said."He must coordinate with the front four and with the deep backs. He has to cover a 9.5 halfback when you're a 10.6 runner yourself."

It was a lot to ask. But the 6-1, 225-pounder did it so well while playing in the shadows of George, Doug Atkins and other members of the Monsters of the Midway that one opponent told the AP that "Fortunato never makes a mistake, he never hits you easy. He hurts you more when he picks you off coming through the line than any linebacker.

Fortunato was part of one of the best-ever NFL defenses, the 1963 Bears, who allowed just 144 points ... knocked the Green Bay Packers off the Western Conference throne ... and beat the New York Giants in the NFL title game. The Bears that year led the NFL in total defense, scoring defense, interceptions, rushing defense, passing defense and a number of other categories.

That was the first full year George Allen coached the unit and Fortunato took over the signal-calling from George It was also the year that then-coach George Halas named him the Bears' captain.

"(He was) one of the smartest players I ever knew," said Allen. "(He) read film real well and spotted things others missed. He picked up keys and was always in the right place at the right time.

"He ranged all over the field and hit tremendously hard . . . He had good hands, and when he picked off an interception, he ran with the ball like a running back."

Said Hall-of-Fame coach Weeb Ewbank: "When you entered Joe's territory he declared war. He was HARD-nosed, three times a pro, a clever guy who'd casually slip in a blitz that required a very good block to keep him off the passer's back."

One such "red dog" came in the 1963 NFL championship game when he rushed Giants' quarterback Y.A. Tittle, forcing him into a critical mistake. Ed O'Bradovich, the defensive end to Fortunato's side, read the play, slowed his rush and intercepted the ball - one of five the Chicago defense stole that day.

"The Giants were supposed to be the greatest offensive team ever to come along in the NFL," Fortunato said. "Y.A. Tittle was the quarterback, and he'd thrown 36 touchdown passes. Our defense beat 'em."

Always around the ball, he recovered 22 fumbles in his career, which tied the NFL record when he retired. He played in 155 games, even though he didn't enter the league until he was 25 because of a post-collegiate military commitment.

But a knee injury in the 1967 preseason ended his career at the age of 36, and Fortunato coached the Bears' defense for a couple of years before returning to Mississippi, where he was a collegiate All-American (Mississippi State) and later became a successful businessman.

Fortunato was named one of the 300 greatest players in pro football history and one of the Top 100 Bears of all-time and is a member of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Mississippi State University's Ring of Honor. In 2017 the Pro Football Researchers' Association voted him into their Hall of the Very Good, but it's time Joe Fortunato earned something more.

It's time he was named a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His career warrants it.