Longtime Lake Oswego resident inducted to Fordham Hall of Fame
Andrew Nacrelli, who was a longtime Lake Oswego resident, was recently inducted into the Fordham University Hall of Fame for his role as the star tight end and putner for the team in the 1950s.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
When Esther Nacrelli of Lake Oswego heard that her husband Andrew had been voted into the Fordham University Hall of Fame this year, she was not surprised.
Actually, this honor was a long time coming.
“My husband was a good man,” Esther Nacrelli said. “A very good man. A good father. A good husband.”
Andy Nacrelli was also a good football player. A very good football player.
“Andy was a Fordham great who fell through the cracks,” said Henry Nacrelli, Andy’s brother. “His outstanding record on and off the field speaks for itself.”
A native of Chester, PA, he went on to star at tight end and punter for the Fordham Ram teams of the mid 1950s and earned a slew of honors, especially after a senior season of 1954 in which he led the team in receptions.
He was team MVP, All-Catholic All-American, second team All-East, and was named to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
There was much more football ahead of him. In 1957 Nacrelli was named to the Army Times All-Army team.
He then went on to play for the Hamilton Tiger Cats in the Canadian Football League and later the Philadelphia Eagles before finally hanging up his pads, helmet and cleats.
After that, it is fair to say that Andrew Nacrelli lived a wonderful life, teaching school, succeeding in the business world, raising a family with wife Esther, and moving to Oregon to live in 1971.
As his brother said, “Andy was a gentleman in the true sense of the word.”
Nacrelli passed on his athletic gifts to his children, who were all outstanding athletes at Lakeridge High School.
Beth was an All-American soccer player at Puget Sound University, Jenny ran track at the University of Washington, Andy Jr. played football at Southern Oregon University and Portland State University, and Tim played in two national championship games at Linfield College, scoring touchdowns in both of those contests.
Sadly, Nacrelli’s life was not long enough.
“He had gone to the Poconos for a high school reunion in 1991,” Esther said. “He was winning a golf tournament when he had a massive heart attack.”
Eighteen years later, Nacrelli joined the immortals of Fordham University football, a tradition that includes Frankie “The Fordham Flash” Frisch, Vince Lombardi, Alex Wojciechowicz, Sleepy Jim Crowley, and the Seven Blocks of Granite. It was a great day for his family.
Henry Nacrelli said, “We had three tables and a total of 27 family members and friends at the ceremony at Fordham University in New York. The whole program (which included New York Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay as emcee) was first class.”
That group included Esther Nacrelli, all four of her children and six grandchildren.
It all adds up to an outstanding legacy for Andy Nacrelli.