Andy Nelson obit

Andy Nelson, 2-time champ with Baltimore Colts and BBQ restaurant owner, dies

 

He was not on the list.

Andy Nelson, a two-time NFL champion with the Baltimore Colts in the late 1950s who later opened a popular barbecue restaurant in Maryland that bears his name, died Friday at age 92.

Luke Nelson, his grandson, confirmed the news in an email to The Baltimore Sun, writing that his grandfather was “a local legend in Baltimore and was beloved by many.” A Facebook post from Andy Nelson’s Southern Pit Barbecue in Cockeysville also announced his death.

“Many of you came to know Andy over the years here at the restaurant — whether through stories of his championship days with the Baltimore Colts, lessons on the perfect way to smoke pork, or simply his joyful tales about family,” the post reads. “Family, friends, and this community meant everything to him, and he appreciated each and every one of you for filling his life with love and joy.

“He was a friend to all, but most importantly, he was the heart of our family. Our hearts are broken, and he will be deeply missed. His legacy will live on in the memories he created on the field, at the pit, and in the lives of everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.”

Andy Nelson played safety for Baltimore from 1957 to 1963 and starred on both the 1958 and 1959 NFL championship teams. In eight professional seasons, including one with the New York Giants in 1964, he recorded 33 interceptions and scored three touchdowns.

Born May 27, 1933, and raised on a 200-acre cotton farm in Alabama, Nelson played quarterback and defensive back for then-Memphis State University. He earned All-America honors as a senior and helped lead the Tigers to their first bowl game in 1956, the Burley Bowl in Johnson City, Tennessee, where they were victorious over East Tennessee State. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education.

Nelson was picked by the Colts in the 11th round of the 1957 NFL draft and started 12 games as a rookie at safety, recording five interceptions. He was named second-team All-Pro the following season after tallying eight interceptions, helping Baltimore win its first NFL championship with a 23-17 overtime victory over the Giants at Yankee Stadium in what has become widely known as “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”

He became a first-team All-Pro the following season and made a pivotal interception in the Colts’ second world championship, a 31-16 victory over the Giants at a packed Memorial Stadium in 1959.

“Those were special times,” Nelson told The Baltimore Sun in 2012. “I was so fortunate to come to the Colts. How many guys get to play on two world champions in the first three years of their careers?”

Nelson signed with the Colts out of Memphis State for $6,200. He later said that he worked every offseason “to make ends meet.”

“If I’d known that [sudden-death] championship game would be so famous, I’d have asked for a $5,000 raise,” he once quipped. Instead, the bump he got was $1,500.

After his NFL career, Nelson spent two years as a player and defensive coach with the Harrisburg Caps of the Atlantic Coast Football League, the Colts’ farm team. He spent the next five years coaching, including with the Norfolk Neptunes and Chambersburg Cardinals of the Seaboard League and the Philadelphia Bell in the World Football League.

He was inducted into the Limestone County Hall of Fame in Alabama, the Memphis State Hall of Fame and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

Roger Carr, a former Colts wide receiver from 1974 to 1981, remembered Nelson at the 50th anniversary celebration of the 1975 Baltimore Colts as not only a great football player, but “a true public servant.”

“Andy was one of the most solid, even-keeled guys I knew in football,” Carr, 73, said during a gathering Saturday evening at Union Craft Brewing in Hampden. “He was just always going to show up and work, whether it was playing or coaching. I know he went into the restaurant business, barbecue and all that, and he brought that work attitude there. But he was just a solid even-keeled guy, a great teammate from everyone we knew. When I came in as a rookie [in 1974], folks on the team followed the foundation of work that he laid years before that.”

Nelson and his wife settled in Lutherville and, in 1981, opened Andy Nelson’s BBQ on York Road in Cockeysville. It was a family affair, as four of Nelson’s seven children and four of his 16 grandchildren worked there. Bettye J. Nelson, his wife of 57 years, died in 2010.

“A lot of those guys from the 50s and 60s, they stayed around here in the area,” Carr said. “He did way more than I did in terms of impact and leaving a legacy behind. He stayed around Baltimore and I’d keep reading his name. Some of our old coaches stayed here and, like Andy, continued to serve the community. That’s the kind of guy Andy was.”

Andy Nelson's Barbecue is a BBQ restaurant in Cockeysville, Maryland. It is known for its hickory smoked BBQ. The restaurant regularly wins "Baltimore's Best BBQ" by Baltimore Magazine and the City Paper. The restaurant dining areas lined with numerous football mementos and photos, and various figurines and posters of pigs.

 

Career history

Playing

Baltimore Colts (1957–1963)

New York Giants (1964)

Atlanta Falcons (1966)*

Harrisburg Capitols (1967-1968)

* Offseason and/or practice squad member only

Coaching

Harrisburg Capitols (1967-1968)

Assistant

Harrisburg Capitols (1969)

Head coach

Pottstown Firebirds (1970)

Defensive

Norfolk Neptunes (1971)

Assistant

Philadelphia Bell (1974)

Defensive backs

Awards and highlights

2× NFL champion (1958, 1959)

First-team All-Pro (1959)

Second-team All-Pro (1958)

Pro Bowl (1960)

Career NFL statistics

Interceptions    33

Fumble recoveries       3

Total touchdowns        3