Former Notre Dame player Zilly dies at 88

ByABC News
September 30, 2022, 7:19 AM

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- John "Jack" Zilly, who played on two national championship football teams for Notre Dame in the 1940s, has died. He was 88. The school said Saturday that Zilly died Friday in Narragansett, R.I. Zilly was a right end on Notre Dame's 1943 championship team. He then joined the Navy and served two years in the Pacific during World War II. He returned to school and celebrated another national title in 1946. Zilly was a sixth-round draft pick by San Francisco of the All-American Football Conference. He wound up playing for the Los Angeles Rams from 1947-51 and the Philadelphia Eagles in 1952. Zilly joined the Montana State coaching staff in 1955 and spent three years coaching ends at Notre Dame from 1956-58.