Art Spinney

Art Spinney
	Spinney on a 1954 Bowman football card
Born:	November 8, 1927; Saugus, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died:	May 27, 1994; Lynn, Massachusetts, U.S.
Career information
Position(s)	Guard
College	Boston College
NFL draft	1950 / Round: 15 / Pick 184
Career history
As player
1950, 1953–1960	Baltimore Colts
Career highlights and awards
Honors	2× NFL champion (1958, 1959); 3× All-Pro (1958, 1959, 1960); 2× Pro Bowl (1959, 1960);

Arthur F. Spinney, Jr. (1927–1994) was an American gridiron football guard. He played one seasons with the first Baltimore Colts team and eight seasons with the second Baltimore Colts team in the National Football League (NFL) and was captain of the 1949 Eagles' football team.[1] Spinney attended Boston College. He missed the 1951 and 1952 NFL seasons due to military service.

After his career he served as an offensive line coach for Boston College and the Boston Patriots under Mike Holovak and was also a public relations official. For a brief time, Spinney worked for the American Biltrite Rubber Company of Cambridge, Massachusetts, as a consultant to its Sports Surfaces Division. In 1972, along with Lawrence J. Warnalis of Medford, Massachusetts, Spinney was awarded a patent that described Biltrite's artificial grass product Poly-Turf as well as its associated layers of product, applied on top of asphalt, as a suitable way to construct a football or soccer field with artificial turf.[2] This provided maximum comfort and safety to the players.

Spinney was inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame in 1972.[1]

Former Governor of Massachusetts Edward J. King, who played college football with Spinney, said of him "He was the toughest single person I ever encountered, he handed out punishment with clean hard-hitting, but he'd play himself into total fatigue. As an individual, he was one good solid American man."[3][4]

After his playing career, Spinney suffered from depression and frequent headaches, and it is now believed that he had CTE.[5]

References

"Art Spinney (1972) - Varsity Club Hall of Fame". Boston College Athletics. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
US 3661687, Spinney Jr., Arthur F. & Warnalis, Lawrence J., "Artificial grass sports field", published 1972-05-09, assigned to American Biltrite Rubber Co. Inc.
Lambert, Bill (2018). "Art Spinney". In Bozeka, George (ed.). The 1958 Baltimore Colts: Profiles of the NFL's First Sudden Death Champion. McFarland. ISBN 9781476671451.
Steadman, John (June 1, 1994). "Spinney was block of intensity Colts came to admire". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
Ron Cassie. "Head in the Game Brain diseases have shortened the lives of many of the city's beloved former Baltimore Colts. Can football survive CTE?". Retrieved August 25, 2023.

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[:0-1] "Art Spinney (1972) - Varsity Club Hall of Fame". Boston College Athletics. Retrieved 2020-01-25.

[2] US 3661687, Spinney Jr., Arthur F. & Warnalis, Lawrence J., "Artificial grass sports field", published 1972-05-09, assigned to American Biltrite Rubber Co. Inc.

[3] Lambert, Bill (2018). "Art Spinney". In Bozeka, George (ed.). The 1958 Baltimore Colts: Profiles of the NFL's First Sudden Death Champion. McFarland. ISBN 9781476671451.

[4] Steadman, John (June 1, 1994). "Spinney was block of intensity Colts came to admire". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2022-07-20.

[5] Ron Cassie. "Head in the Game Brain diseases have shortened the lives of many of the city's beloved former Baltimore Colts. Can football survive CTE?". Retrieved August 25, 2023.