Senate Resolution 4

(As Adopted by Senate)

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE LIFE AND PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL CAREER OF MELVIN CHRISTOPHER (MEL) TRIPLETT, A NATIVE OF INDIANOLA, MISSISSIPPI, AND EXPRESSING THE SYMPATHY OF THE SENATE.

WHEREAS, Mel Triplett, the fullback for the Giants' 1956 National Football League champions, died Thursday, July 25, 2002, in Toledo, Ohio. He was 71; and

WHEREAS, Melvin Christopher Triplett was born December 24, 1930, in Indianola, Mississippi, the second of 12 children. He was raised in Girard, Ohio, where he won 11 high school letters in football, track and field, basketball and gymnastics; and

WHEREAS, he received 26 scholarship offers to play football. He chose the University of Toledo, won letters all four years at Toledo before the Giants drafted him in the fifth round. After his pro football career, he worked in a Toledo brewery and ran a federal training program; and

WHEREAS, the 1956 National Football League Final was a memorable game in which the Giants wore white sneakers on Yankee Stadium's frozen turf while the Chicago Bears skidded around on cleats; and

WHEREAS, in 1996, at a 40th Anniversary Celebration of that championship, Sam Huff, the Giants' Hall of Fame middle linebacker, recalled Triplett's 17-yard run in the game. "He ran a trap in the middle," Huff told the New York Times, "and with his head down he went straight over an official and into the end zone for our first touchdown." The Giants went on to a 47-7 victory and Triplett was voted the Giants' Offensive Player of the Game. Jim Lee Howell, the Giants' coach, said, "Without Triplett's blocking, a lot of our plays wouldn't have worked; and

WHEREAS, the 6-foot-1-inch, 215-pound Triplett was mainly a blocking back for Frank Gifford, who appreciated his toughness in the film room as well as on the field; and

WHEREAS, in eight professional seasons with the Giants (1955-1960) and the Minnesota Vikings (1961-1962), Triplett rushed for 2,857 yards and 14 touchdowns in 97 games. His career ended with the Cleveland Browns in 1963; and

WHEREAS, he is survived by five daughters, Renee Green, Teresa Triplett-Smith, Angel Masie, Gladys Jean Triplett and Gwen Triplett; seven sons, William, Walter, Sylvester, Calvin, Theodore, Aaron and Alton; eight sisters, Mary Brown, Lesten McElroy, Syphfronia Garrett, Amelia Murray, Lillie Crawford, Maxine Cato, Jacquelyn Miller and Ruth Darlene Grayer; a brother, Bill; and 50 grandchildren; and

WHEREAS, it is with sadness that we note the passing of a famous professional athlete who has brought honor to his sport and to his home state:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commend the life and professional football career of Melvin Christopher (Mel) Triplett, a native of Indianola, Mississippi, who was a key player in the most famous of all professional football games, and extend to his family the sympathy of the Senate.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be forwarded to the surviving family of Mel Triplett and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.