in the order by last name. (this list is woefully incomplete and will be added to continuously--if you see a name missing that you want added please email me the information and i will add it.
Name, Number, Years (with number worn that year [it sometimes changes thru the years]) Please note that the amount of descriptive text doesn't mean anything more than I may not have gotten around to adding a description or a small description should be read as a place holder. I will be happy to add any information (positive of course) that I receive.
Ronnie Adamo 1959*. Played with the junior championship team.
Joe Artale #15. Juniors, 1958, 1959*, seniors 1962*, 1963*
Once Joe arrived he was one of starting linebackers. It was just a natural spot for him--he would go right to the ball carrier. He was a surprisingly strong person who used to knock both the dummy and the dummy holder (me in this case) over sometimes when he blocked. I was glad he was on our team.
Eddie Affatato (the beast; now bigfoot) #77. Played our first year in the juniors and he was simply--I thought---the toughest guy on the field. Eddie was our first ALL-STAR team member. I think six players from the 1957 team made honorable mention.
Tony Amatulli. Played quaterback for the junior champs in 1964 and then on the seniors. See the team photo of the junior champs 1964. In the seniors his only problem was his coach (that would be me) wanted him to run the option but Tony had the good sense to ignore the request and instead had a good season passing. I can still remember him standing in the pocket in one game with opponents drapped over him.
Billy Bast. Played with the 1958 and 59 Lynvets then returned home when we had our first senior team in 1960. He was injured in the second game of that season with a lacerated kidney which ended his career as a player. He tough rugged guy who was a real good friend of mine and I miss him (he passed away in the 1990's).
Bob Benedetto. He played with Garity and then went to play at Eastern Military Academy on Long Island. Information supplied by Art Ross coach of EMA.
Charley Benroth #63 1958, 1959* juniors played offensive guard and was infamous as a fearless Renault driver (when you were in his car--you had your seat belt on long before the law).
Bobby Blake: #82 1960,1961, 1962*, 1963* seniors. Bobby was a fixture at the one of the defensive end spots. He wasn't a big guy but he was very active.
Lou Bradley #7 A thunderous runner and blocker. We have some films of an excellent series of plays where Louie's plunges straight ahead 3 times in row against the Greenpoint crusaders in 1961. Louie was there before we won championships and through the championship years and then even after it. There was one night at practice where he faced off with Vinny Manoco is blocking drills. The collisions were such that I was happy to be watching and not participating--thats how strong the both of them were.
Jim Cavallaro #70.
Jim played in the juniors in 1960,1961,1962 and in the seniors in 1963,1964,1965,1966, 1967 and then at College Point. How is this possible? I think they kept raising the age limit in the seniors. Jimmy played both offense and defense. He had a problem with one of his knee's but it never kept him out of games.
Ed Campbell. 1963*. Eddie played at St. Johns high school and then with Rego Park but when their team ended he came to garity in 1963. He was a good solid offensive and defensive end and was an easy and casual guy who fit in right away. I think we already knew him from the ALL-Star game in 1962 where he represented Rego Park when the All-Star team, coached by Torchy defeated the previous years champs. The Mike D'Amato, Tom Chapman led Rockaway Knights 12-0.
Ralph Ciccone. Raplh was one of a few Garity players who had strong ties to the Greenpoint team but played his football at Garity. He was a good solid offensive guard. I always think of him when I think of Jimmy Cavallaro they were such a team together, both on and off the field.
Norbie Dervian #22. 1958, 1959. Norbie seemed to be a cheerful guy.
John 'Babe' Dougherty.
Played quarterback 1957 and center 1958 when he sustained a broken leg in practice just before the season began. But he came back and played on our first senior team as a center in 1960.
Herman (Red) Dreier #64, #69 1959*, 1960 and 1961. Juniors, 1962*, 1963*, 1964 seniors. (I will be adding a lot text about Herman in the near future). He was as fast as Jimmy Gantz and as strong as Bobby Klatcher and fiercer than anyone else. In the 1962 Lynvet game film on one play, Herman tosses the offensive guard aside and hurries the quarterback into throwing an interception to Joe Artele. This was his second game in the seniors. Once he arrived he added the final element to our championship offensive line which had Trezzel and Klatcher at tackles, Herman and Gerry Meditz at guard and the rock solid Bob Werkmiester at center. With Red's speed at pulling guard and his ability to turn block at the line of scrimmage we became a team with an unstoppable ground game. Herman was the MVP on the junior team in 1961. He was also voted the League's most valuable lineman in 1961 in the Junior and was a runner-up for most valuable lineman in the senior league in either 1964 or 1965. He was a perennial selection to the All Star teams in both the junior and senior leagues.
Ed Negota. 1958, 1959* juniors short powerful guy played the offensive and defensive line.
larry Fitztpatrick. #95, 1963* Larry had played with the Brooklyn Mariners. He played the defensive line for Garity. Larry was a fireman and unfortunately died a hero's death when the rope he was descending on to rescue someone broke and he fell to his death.
Jim Gantz #1 There is so much to say about Jimmy. I will be adding a full page about him in the near future.
Richard V. Klipp, aka The Big Swede. #?7 Richie played on the 1959 Junior championship team. Unfortunately the team photo I have only shows half of him that's why there is a questionmark in the jersey number (the half is at the left front line). Richie was a Woodbiner (as were John Dougherty, Ray Petty, Dennis O'toole, Pat Schwager, Walter Simmons [really Madison street]) and along with all the others--he helped make being a part of the Garity Knights a special experience. He is currently a practicing artist working in designs in concrete.
Bob Kletcher #75. Bob started out as an offensive end on our first team in 1957. See the write up about the College point game and Bob. He was a good blocker who also caught a few touchdown passes and had enough speed ot run the end around. He hurt his knee and didn't play in 1958. In 1960 he played on our first senior team as a two way tackle wearing a knee brace. Bob had picture perfect blocking style and was one of the stongest guys on the team (by now, all of us who came from "The Cellar AC, were liffing weights and Bob was simply naturally strong). He played on the two championship senior teams. In the film section in Lynvet 1962 game there a few plays where he just fires out of his stance catching his opponent flatflooted. At the 1963 League dinner Torchy introduced Bob to Larry Kelly (lynvet coach) who was standing with John Mulivhille (a terrific Lynvet tackle). Larry turned to John and said "This (Bob) is the guy who made you look like you were on rollerskates on the goalline when they (Garity) scored". When you consider that Mulivhille had played at the University of Tennessee, you get an idea of how good Bob was. He was also one of the quietest guys on the planet. He was a firemen all his life and was injured in the line of duty. Eventually his injuries caught up with him and he passed away a few years ago. He will be sorely missed. You can see a picure of him in the group reunioon photo of 1993.
Eddie Krause #77 Eddie was the dominant defensive linemen in the juniors in 1958 and 59. From his extraordinarily low four point stance he would just explode across the ball and he seemed to have seven foot long arms the way he be involved in almost every running play.
Jackie Phillips
Jackie unfortunately sustained a very serious knee injury that ended his football career but it never diminished his enthusiasm for the game or the Garity Knights. He became our equipment manager for the those early senior years. Jackie passed away (in 2004)
Joe Lisi
Dennis Magarus. 1961. Was an all city halfback at Stuyvesand high school (mentioned in State of Grace book) was on the Wagner college team with Torchy and came to us for most of 1 season when he was received a kidney injuring ending his playing career. Dennis had good speed and was really tough (Dennis wasn't a big guy but that didn't prevent him from slamming into people on the field.) He played a tough brand of football. He played quarterback and defensive halfback. The film on the website of the Greenpoint game shows him throwing a sidearm pass 15 yards down the middle of the field that Jimmy Gantz ropes in for a good gain.
Vinnie Manoco #67. 1957, 1958 juniors, 1959 Rockaway seniors, 1960 Garity Seniors Vinny was a really good two way guard making the ALL star team in 1957. He was a big guy who had good speed so he became a fullback in 1958. I have some excellent photos that I will be adding in the near future. In the seniors he played halfback with us. In our only victory of 1960 we marched down the field with Jimmy Gantz handing off to either Vinny or Lou Bradley on cross bucks. It was the longest drive I was ever part of we just kept on picking up enough yardage to maintain possession and drove the length of the field and scored the winning touchdown against a shocked Rego Park team (why were they shocked--because they were being beaten by a team that had just lost a game to the Lynvets 50-0).
Vinnie Mazzilli (little vinny) #17
Follow this link to see photos of Vinnie with caption
Gintz Mazzilli (big Vinny) This faded photo (above) shows Vinny off and running again Rego Park. When Gintz joined Garity with his cousin (ittle Vinny) we bcame a different team. They solidified our secondary along with Decatur Rodgers and we were set. Gintz did our puntiing, held the bal on extra points and was a slashing runner who loved to hurdle opponents. Gintzt unfortunately died in the middle 90's and he is deeply missed--he was such a sweetheart of a guy.
Whitey (Ernst) Martens. #7 1959* championship year. He may have played other years--I know he won the heart award one year. What was an enthusiastic %100 percenter who impressed everyone with his desire.
Gerry Meditz #68. Played center on the 1959 junior championship year. Then offensive guard in 1960, 1961, 1962*, 1963*. What can I say about Gerry? We voted him our MVP on the 1963 senior championship team that had the Mazzeli's, Jim Gantz. and a host of other outstanding players. Gerry is famous for the DIVE (see the write-up of the Lynvet game in 1962). He was a precision blocker and made one of the greatest tackles in our 1963 championship game against the Lynvets separating the runner from the ball and stopping a lynvet drive. There will be more about this in the 63 season write-up (not added yet).
Mark Monahan (Jimmy Gantz's nephew)
Freddie Paulus: 1958 versus the long Island Tomahawks at our home field.
Ray Petty #18, #4.
Ray played fullback in 1957 scoring all the points in our only victory over Nat Paterson (19-18)that year. He then quarterbacked the team in 1958 and 1959. Leading the team to a championship. He once told me his favorite headline in the Long Island Press was" Petty blunts Tomahawks" (a game in which, once again, he scored all the points in a winning effort). He was a starter on the freshman team at Valpariso college when he left school for personal reasons. Ray was extremely talented, he played high school baseball for Cleveland High School, and was the Pop Warner league MVP in 1959. He could throw a beautiful pass and was the consummate team leader on the field.
Jack O'Hara #49. Jack came to us in 1961 after the Rosedale team ended. At the same time Benny Kolb came to assist Torchy coaching the seniors. He played some games at fullback (we have films of him 1962 versus Lynvets when Lou Bradley must have been hurt). Jack primarily played defensive end and was as rugged and tough as anyone on the field. He was a big factor in the the 1962 and 63 senior championship years.
Dennis O'Toole. #66. Part of the orginal 56 group. Played on the juniors in 1957, 1958, 1959* and the seniors in 1962*. Dennis was the kickoff man and played a rugged defensive guard.
Charlie Riggio. 1960, 1961 juniors, 1961, 1962*, 1963* seniors Charlie was like a high stepping Jimmy Taylor (if you can imagine that combination). He played fullback, halfback and defensive end and ran with high knee action but would also drop his shoulder and explode into an opponent and come out it spinning looking for more yardage. He was a pleasure to watch play. Somehow he was registered with both the juniors and seniors in 1961 so when the junior season ended he finished out the year with the seniors.
Decatur Rodgers. #19. 1962* 1963* Tommy Wilson brought Decatur to us from Framingdale community college where they both played football. Decatur played both ways as a split end and one of the defensive halfbacks. We never lost a game he played in. We had two split ends and their primary job was as blockers. Torchy told me that some of the coaches told him, at weekly league meetings, that other teams simply FEARED Decatur cracking back on them (all strictly legal). Decatur ran the high hurdles at Farmingdale so he also had good speed and was a real good tackler. With him and the two Mazzeli's in the secondary we gave up almost no really long plays during 62 and 63.
Lou Rosi. #78 1963* Louie came down from the bronx with the Mazzeli's. He played the line and he owned the greatest pair of winged-tipped shoulder guards.
Pat Trosi, #81 (juniors) #79 (seniors) 1959*, 1960, 1961.
Mickey Vetovez.
Running back. May have been the high scorer in his last year in the Juniors. He played at least one year in the seniors.
Walter Simmons #62. 1956, 1757, 1958, 1959*. Walter was the winner of the outstanding offensive lineman team trophy in 1959. He was the pulling guard who led JImmy Gantz on the 'anchors away' play (copied from the then winning Navy team) where Walter would pull and lead JImmy off the right end and tackle and Jimmy would just roar through the opened lane. Walter was wiry and tough and used to delight in teasing his lifelong buddy Ray Petty
Roger Smith #55, #54 (# 3 with the Lynvets in 1959) and one game as #33 in 1962 (nobody knows why but we have films). The card below is the actual weigh in card. The signature is probably Robert Haige.
Kurt Tauss. #17. 1957, 1958, 1959*. Played halfback and was a weight lifter who was extremely strong. He gave us our only bright spot in a losing effort in 1957 when St. Vincents Boys Home was running all over us. Something happened late in the game and Kurt became enraged (I had never seen him like that) and he started ripping off running gains to the degree that the whole team woke up and we finally scored. They beat us 37-7.
Steve Thorpe jr. Steve Thorpe father was the coach of the first senior team and little Steve was almost our mascot. When he grew up he played on the intermediates and juniors.
John Trezzel. #21 in the juniors, #70 in the seniors. John was a fixture at offensive tackler starting in all the years he played for Garity, 1957, 1968, 1961,1962 and 1963. He had great strength and speed. He was fast enough that in 1958 he played in the defensive secondary and was famous for scooping up punts that had just about rolled dead, giving the other team a chance to surround the ball--all of sudden with his long reach he would just snatch the ball up and invariable get instanenouly tackled.
Anthony Weeks. He played with Garity and then went to play at Eastern Military Academy on Long Island. Information supplied by Art Ross coach of EMA.
Bob Werkmeister. #55 1961, 1962*, 1963* Bob was a perennial All-star at offensive center and defensive guard and tackle. He had played at Boy's High and once he joined Garity he owned the center spot. He was one of the strongest players on the team. I remember one night at practice when he and Bob Klatcher were opposing each other in one on one blocking drills. The rest of the team stopped practiced to watch these two titans smash into each other. I thought that Bob might be my one opportunity to actually beat someone in a foot-race so one night I challenged him. What can I say--he won. I still maintained my undisputed title of slowest Garity Knight.
Frank White. The first Garity quarterback ever. Frank played our first season and then was too old. He lead us to our first tie and our first win. And along the way he picked up a lot of bruises passing behind our inexperienced first year line.
Tom Wilson (known as TD Wilson) after he scored on an interception. Tommy played at John Adams high school, Farmingdale community college and with Garity 1961, 1962*, 1963* and 1967. He played for offensive back and the defensive line. He also supplied many of the movies that we have up on the website. Additionaly he kept a journal of the 1967 season and he supplied the clippings from that year. Tommy also brought Bob Martin, the Fiore Brothers and Kevin Sweeny to Garity.
Lou Widerka. #75. Louie played offensive tackle in 1958, 1959.