Paul Salata (original) (raw)

Paul Thomas Salata (October 17, 1926 – October 16, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL), All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU). He was born to a Serbian-born father and second generation Serbian-American mother. After his college football days at USC Salata played for the AAFC/NFL's San Francisco 49ers (1949–1950) and the AAFC's Baltimore Colts (1950). After the Colts franchise folded in 1950 he was declared draft-eligible and was subsequently drafted in the tenth round of the 1951 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He scored the 49ers final touchdown in the All-American Football Conference, as well as the team's first TD in NFL. He also played three final seaso