Jack Ferrante had a unique path to the National Football League because he wasn’t drafted and never played college football. In fact, he never even finished high school.
Let that sink in for a minute. If you were like us, you might have automatically thought about the Mark Wahlberg film about Vince Papale, which is an excellent story in itself, but Papale was not nearly as good as Jack Ferrante.
Let’s continue…
Ferrante would play semi-pro football and impressed the Eagles brass enough at a tryout to latch onto their farm team (The Wilmington Clippers), played a couple of games in 1941, and made the team for good in 1944; by 1945, he was one of the better Ends on the team. He would finish in the top ten in Yards per Reception five times and would help the Eagles win the NFL Championship in 1948 and 1949. Ferrante scored 31 Touchdowns and caught 16 passes for 2,884 Yards in a career that would only transpire in Philadelphia.
He was named to the 1940s All-Decade Team, which, again, when you remember where he came from, is an incredible accomplishment.
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