Buzz Nutter

Madison Monroe "Buzz" Nutter (February 16, 1931 – April 12, 2008) was an American football center in the National Football League for the Baltimore Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at Virginia Tech.

Buzz Nutter
No. 50, 51
Position:Center
Linebacker
Personal information
Born:(1931-02-16)February 16, 1931
Summersville, West Virginia
Died:April 12, 2008(2008-04-12) (aged 77)
La Plata, Maryland
Career information
College:Virginia Tech
NFL Draft:1953 / Round: 12 / Pick: 136
(By the Washington Redskins)
Career history
Career highlights and awards
  • Pro Bowl selection (1962)
  • Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame (1985)
Career NFL statistics
Games played:153
Fumble recoveries:7
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early life

Nutter was born in Summersville, West Virginia and grew up in Huntington, West Virginia, where he acquired the nickname "Buzz" as a young man.[1] He attended and played high school football at Vinson High School.[2]

College career

Nutter attended and played college football at Virginia Tech.[1] After his senior season, he became the first player from Virginia Tech drafted into the NFL,[3] despite the team going 0-10, 2-8 and 5-6 the final three seasons of his career.[4] Nutter was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.[5]

Professional career

Nutter was drafted in the 12th round of the 1953 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. He failed to make the team in the offseason and moved back to West Virginia to work in a steel mill.[1][6] He returned to the NFL in 1954 with the Baltimore Colts, where he played for seven seasons and won consecutive NFL Championship titles (1958–1959).[1] Nutter was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, along with Eugene Lipscomb, in 1961 for wide receiver Jimmy Orr.[7] Nutter played in Pittsburgh for four seasons and was selected for the Pro Bowl in 1962. In 1965, he returned to the Colts and played for one more season.[1]

After football

After retiring from football, Nutter moved to La Plata, Maryland and started a beverage distribution company in Waldorf, Maryland that he ran for more than 40 years.[1] The company was named Center Distributors after his football position.[1]

Nutter's wife of 44 years, Carole, a devout Catholic, died in 1997.[7] Two days before her death, in a service that took place in his wife's hospital room, Nutter converted to Catholicism after being a lifelong Methodist.[7] They had four children and ten grandchildren.[1]

Nutter died on April 12, 2008 of heart failure[8] at Civista Medical Center in La Plata.[1]

References
  1. Schudel, Matt (2008-04-18). "Buzz Nutter; Colts Center Was in 'Greatest Game Ever'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  2. "Spring attendance, Bowers and Nutter". Sunday Gazette. Archived from the original on 2008-04-30. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  3. Colston, Chris (January 2003). Tales from the Virginia Tech Sidelines. Chris Colston. ISBN 9781582617282. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  4. "Preas' teammate at Tech, Colts dies". The Roanoke Times. Archived from the original on 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  5. "Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame". HokieSports.com. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  6. "Former Colts center Nutter dies". USA Today. 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  7. "Colts' unsung center Nutter dies at 77". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  8. "Buzz Nutter, former Unitas era Colts center, dies at 77". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
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