Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 2,034

This is the grave of Jim Katcavage

Born in 1934 in Wilkes Barre, Pennyslvania, at some point Katcavage moved to Philadelphia, attending high school at Roman Catholic High there. He was of Lithuanian background, so that makes sense. He was an excellent football player and was recruited to play at Dayton, which at the time was a legit program, but is today just a minor little small college team. He was an excellent defensive lineman there from 1952-56. In the 1956 NFL Draft, the New York Giants selected him in the 4th round.

Katcavage would play for the Giants for the next 13 years, until 1968, and he was a monster pass rusher. Now, this was an era before pass rushing was really even a thing. Sacks were not kept track of as a stat until 1982. So any discussion of this is a bit vague. But according to the Giants, Katcavage would rack up 91 1/2 sacks over his career, which remains the 4th highest in Giants history. He was however recognized as a pretty dominant defensive linemen during his time. He was a 3 time First Team All-Pro, winning the honor from 1961-63, with a Second Team listing in 1959 and 1966. He’s believed to have led the NFL in sacks in 1962 and 1963, though again, those are not official stats.

Katcavage helped the Giants to the 1956 NFL title, though that was his rookie year and he played a relatively minor role on that team. He also recovered 19 fumbles in his career. Katcavage was part of the Fearsome Foursome that the Giants had on their defensive line, teaming up with Rosey Grier, Dick Modzelewski and Andy Robustelli, plus with Sam Huff at middle linebacker behind them. So it’s not super surprising that the Giants led the league in fewest points allowed in 1958, 1959, and 1961.

Interestingly, Katcavage actually was a pretty popular player in his time as well. I’m not saying that should be shocking, but he did a ton of endorsements, including Post cereals and Royal pudding, and even had a deal with Coca Cola.

After retiring in 1968, the Giants hired Katcavage to coach their defensive line and he remained with the team through the 1973 season. For awhile he scouted for the Philadelphia Eagles. He lived in Pennsylvania, dying in Maple Glen in 1995, at the age of 60.

It’s a bit surprising that there hasn’t been more consideration of Katcavage for the Hall of Fame, though really he does fall a bit short of the kind of Senior Committee finalists that this year include Bengals QB Ken Anderson and Niners RB Roger Craig. Those were near dominant players and Katcavage was really a Very Good Player. Some years, the Giants released a list of their top 100 players. Katcavage was #22, which is pretty damn good for a franchise of that quality. I hardly need to tell you that Lawrence Taylor was #1. But whenever that list was released, it’s pretty safe to say that the last decade hasn’t exactly placed any new contenders toward the top…..

Jim Katcavage is buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania.

If you would like this series to visit other New York Giants, you can donate to cover the required expenses here. Roosevelt Brown, who is #2, is in Hydraulic, Virginia. Emmet Tunnell, at #6, is in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Previous posts in this series are archived here and here.

Good post for an NFL Sunday!