Joe Palumbo Considered for College Football Hall of Fame

Story Links

March 12, 1998

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Joe Palumbo, a standout defensive lineman for the University of Virginia from 1949 to 1951, is among 71 players and eight coaches at the Division I-A level being considered for induction into The National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame. The announcement of those selected for induction will come after the organization’s Honors Court convenes later this month.

The players and coaches selected will be inducted at The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame’s 41st annual awards dinner on December 8, 1998, at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. In August of 1999, the inductees will take part in the enshrinement ceremonies at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.

Palumbo, who resides in Charlottesville, lettered three times for the Cavaliers as a defensive guard from 1949 to 1951. During those three seasons, Virginia compiled an overall record of 23-5.

He was captain of Virginia’s 1951 team and earned All-America honors that season from The Associated Press and NEA. He was a three-time All-State selection and was an All-Southern Conference selection in 1949. In 1951, Palumbo received the Outstanding Defensive Lineman Award from the Touchdown Club of Washington, D.C., was named the state of Virginia’s Athlete of the Year and participated in the Blue-Gray All-Star Game.

Palumbo is one of six Cavaliers to have his number (48) retired and is a member of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

A native of Beaver, Pa., he graduated from UVa with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1952. He served in the Army after graduation and went on to a successful career as an insurance executive.