Villanova Univeristy Athletics

John Mellus was an All-American tackle at Villanova and went on to play eight seasons professionally, twice earning Pro Bowl selections and once being named to the All-Pro team. He was a member of some of the Wildcats most successful teams under coaches Harry Stuhldreher and Maurice “Clipper” Smith. Mellus played for Villanova’s varsity squad from 1935-37 and graduated in 1938 with a degree in Economics. He was inducted to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1978.
 
Villanova was 22-4-2 (.821) during Mellus’ career and he earned All-America honors from both the New York Sun and the Associated Press for his play at tackle. In his three years on the active roster Villanova outscored its opponents by an impressive 400 points (513-113) in just 28 games played while averaging a plus-14.3 scoring margin. The team’s success included playing in the Bacardi Bowl in Havana, Cuba at the end of the 1936 campaign.
 
Mellus’ first season was in 1935 in the final year of Stuhldreher’s 11 seasons as head coach. Villanova was 7-2 and did not allow a single point through the first five games of the season. After narrow losses on the road against Detroit and Penn State, the Wildcats ended the season with a 21-14 win at Temple.
 
First-year head coach Clipper Smith guided Villanova to a 7-2-1 campaign in 1936. The tie came in the season’s final game when the Wildcats and Auburn played to a 7-7 draw in the Bacardi Bowl. Played on January 1, 1937, the game was the seventh in eight editions of the Bacardi Bowl and the only contest of the eight which featured two American teams playing each other as opposed to a U.S. college team playing against a Cuban team. The game before the Bacardi Bowl was a 12-0 win at Manhattan on November 21, 1936, and it was significant because it was the first game in what grew to be a program record 22-game unbeaten streak (19-0-3) which stretched until the early part of the 1939 season.
 
Mellus’ senior year in 1937 saw the Wildcats 8-0-1 in the midst of the unbeaten streak. Incredibly, apart from a 25-7 win over Marquette at Shibe Park, Villanova did not allow a single other point in its other eight games and finished the year with a 185-7 scoring margin. Mellus was named a first team All-American by the New York Suni and garnered second team honors from the Associated Press in their 13^th annual collegiate All-America team.
 
Following graduation, Mellus was selected by the New York Giants with the 78^th overall pick in the ninth round of the 1938 NFL Draft. He was a part of the Giants championship team later that season and played four seasons for the team from 1938-41. Mellus was named to the Pro Bowl in his 1938 rookie season and again in 1941 when he was named to the All-Pro first team.
 
In February 1942, Mellus was drafted into military service and continued his football career as a member of the Eastern Army All-Star Team. He was named to the Associated Press military service All-American team in 1943.
 
Mellus continued his professional career after World War II and played for the San Francisco 49ers (1946) and the Baltimore Colts (1946-49) until his retirement. He passed away in Dallas, Pa. in 2005 at the age of 88.
 
Mellus’ jersey number – 33 – was retired on the Wall of Fame in Villanova Stadium in 2002.