Paul Costa (American football)

Sebastian Paul Costa (December 7, 1941 – October 12, 2015) was an American football tight end.[1] He played college football for the University of Notre Dame's Fighting Irish. The American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs drafted him in his junior year, 1964, and he was traded to the AFL's Buffalo Bills for the 1965 season. He won a starting job at tight end his rookie year with the Bills, and soon became an excellent tight end, being named an AFL All-Star in his first two seasons.

Paul Costa
No. 82
Costa breaks away against the Raiders, 1965
(original art by AFL archivist A. F. Coniglio)
Born:(1941-12-07)December 7, 1941
Port Chester, New York
Died:October 12, 2015(2015-10-12) (aged 73)
Grapevine, Texas
Career information
Position(s)Tight end
Height6 ft 6 in (198 cm)
CollegeNotre Dame
AFL draft1964 / Round: 14 / Pick 106
(By the Kansas City Chiefs)
NFL draft1964 / Round: 4 / Pick 55
(By the Green Bay Packers)
Career history
As player
1965–1969AFL Buffalo Bills
1970–1972NFL Buffalo Bills
1974WFL Birmingham Americans
1975WFL Birmingham Vulcans
Career highlights and awards
AFL All-Star1965, 1966
Honors1965 AFL Champion

As a rookie, Costa averaged 19.1 yards per catch. For his career, he averaged 16.7 yards per catch. In his first year, in the 1965 AFL Championship game against the San Diego Chargers, he teamed with Ernie Warlick in one of the first uses of the "double tight end" formation installed by head coach Lou Saban. Costa caught two passes for 32 yards, Warlick caught three for 35 yards and a touchdown as the Bills defeated the Chargers for the second consecutive year, this time shutting them out 23 - 0, the first shutout in AFL Championship game history. In Costa's fifth year in pro football, he moved to offensive tackle and played that position for four years. After playing eight years for the Bills, he retired for one year, then came out of retirement to play for the Birmingham Americans of the World Football League in 1974 and Birmingham Vulcans in 1975.[2][3]

Costa earned a B.A. degree in Communications from Notre Dame. He also held a Masters and Ph.D. from the California Graduate School of Theology. Paul was a full-time minister since retiring from football. He was a pastor for sixteen years, and traveled nationally and internationally as a speaker in churches, conferences, and schools. He co-authored a book with Dr. John Kelly (End Time Warriors) that was published by Regal Book. He died of complications of prostate cancer on October 12, 2015.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 5, 2007. Retrieved January 25, 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Perry, Dwight (July 12, 2004). "Wristwatch wrestler had comedic timing". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
  3. Miller, Jeffrey J. (2007). Rockin' the Rockpile: The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: ECW Press. p. 497. ISBN 978-1-55022-797-0. After a couple of years away from the games, [Joe] O'Donnell got the urge to play once more and signed with the Birmingham Americans of the World Football League, where he was reunited with former teammates [Paul] Costa and Edgar Chandler.
  4. http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/obituaries/sebastian-paul-costa-former-buffalo-bills-player-dies-in-texas-20151016
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