Former Tulane All-American Tony Sardisco Passes Away
May 29, 2006 | Football
May 29, 2006
SHREVEPORT, La. - Former Tulane football All-American Tony Sardisco, 73, a member of six halls of fame, including the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, died Sunday in his hometown of Shreveport.
A guard and linebacker for the Green Wave teams of 1952-55, Sardisco served as team captain his senior season, leading Tulane to a 5-4-1 mark that year, including an upset win over eighth-ranked Alabama and a 13-13 season-ending tie with LSU.
Sardisco was a two-time All-Southeastern Conference choice at guard during his years at Tulane and was named a first team All-American by the Football Writer's Association of America in 1955.
Following his senior season, he played in the Blue-Gray Game, the Senior Bowl and the Chicago College All-Star Game, and was named outstanding lineman in the Blue-Gray game after making 14 unassisted tackles.
He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Tulane and was selected in the fifth round of the 1956 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers, where his first contract was for $7,500 with a $250 bonus. After 10 games, he was traded to the Washington Redskins, where he finished the season.
His professional football career was then interrupted by a stint in the Air Force, where he spent the next two years, although he continued to play football, making All-Air Force in 1957 and All-Service in 1957 and 1958.
In 1959, he played with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League before joining the new American Football League the next season, serving as team captain for the inaugural Boston Patriots team. He was named All-AFL the following season and played three seasons in all with the Patriots.
Following his playing career, Sardisco turned to coaching. He served as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Jesuit High School in Shreveport, with the Buffalo Bills and at Temple University before returning to Shreveport as the head coach at Jesuit from 1970-74. He was also athletic director at Loyola College Prep in Shreveport from 1973-85.
He founded Sardisco Insurance Planning, Inc. in 1970 and remained active with the company until his death.
He was inducted into the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame in 1982 and to the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. He also was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, June 1 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Shreveport with the wake scheduled for Wednesday, May 31 from 5-7 p.m. at Rose Heath Funeral Home, also in Shreveport.
-- Tulane Green Wave --
