Nappi, QB of ’52 state champion team, dies

PORTLAND – Frank Nappi, quarterback of the 1952 state championship Portland High School football team, died Wednesday at the age of 74.

Nappi, who earned 15 letters in four sports with the Bulldogs, turned down an offer to play pro baseball because he had promised his father he would go to college. He attended the University of Nebraska for three years, starring for the football and baseball teams, before serving in the U.S. Army.

He taught five years in New Jersey, then spent 17 years as the recreational director at Fort Dix, N.J. Retiring in the 1970s, he and his wife Sally returned to Portland. His activities there included serving on the board of directors for Special Olympics and helping with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Portland.