Donovan’s Grief

Art Donovan, the oral historian of Baltimore Colts football, has died of a respiratory ailment at the age of 89. The only member of the worst defense in NFL history to make the Hall of Fame, Donovan spent 12 years in pro football, then spent the rest of his life telling people about it with tales of gridiron glory from the time when concussions were cool and not Exhibits A-XYZ and the NFL was populated by "oversized coal miners and West Texas psychopaths." Donovan’s grandfather, Mike, was a world middleweight champion who gave boxing lessons to Teddy Roosevelt, his father, Arthur Sr, was a referee inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and Donovan got shot in the ass on Okinawa during World War II, so he had a lifetime of stories even before he sacked a drunken Bobby Layne in the middle of a game. Each of the first 3 pro teams Donovan played for folded before he found a permanent home in 1953 in Baltimore, where he was All-NFL for four straight years, played in five consecutive Pro Bowls and helped win consecutive world championships in 1958 and 1959.