Palumbo Selected to College Football Hall of Fame
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April 9, 1999
College Football Hall of Fame Induction Press Conference Audio
SOUTH BEND, Ind — Joe Palumbo, a standout defensive lineman for the University of Virginia from 1949-51, has been selected for induction into The National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame. His selection was announced along with the selection of 11 other former Division I-A players and three coaches by National Football Foundation Honors Court Chairman Gene Corrigan at a press conference on Friday (April 9).
Palumbo, who resides in Charlottesville, lettered three times for the Cavaliers as a defensive guard from 1949-1951. 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. 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. He was a three-time All-State selection.
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.
Other former players selected for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame include Ross Browner (Notre Dame), Chuck Dicus (Arkansas), Chris Gilbert (Texas), John Hannah (Alabama), Billy Kilmer (UCLA), Steve Kiner (Tennessee), Chuck Long (Iowa), Frank Loria (Virginia Tech), Greg Pruitt (Oklahoma), Herschel Walker (Georgia) and Ed White (California-Berkeley). The coaches selected for induction include Jerry Claiborne (Virginia Tech, Maryland, Kentucky), Don Coryell (Whittier, San Diego State) and Jim Young (Arizona, Purdue, Army).
The induction ceremonies are scheduled for this August in South Bend.