Harry Harris/Associated Press
Joe Bellino, an elusive halfback who was the first Navy player to win the Heisman Trophy but whose professional football career, delayed by four years of military service, fell short of expectations, died on March 27 in a hospice in Lincoln, Mass. He was 81.
His son, John, said the cause was stomach cancer.
Bellino was an explosive, relatively undersized (5-foot-9) running back whose Heisman candidacy most likely began in late November 1959, when, as a junior, he rushed for three touchdowns, including one for 46 yards, in a 43-12 rout of Army.