Sam Vacanti


Samuel Filadelfo Vacanti was an American football quarterback.
Vacanti was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1922 and attended Omaha Tech High School. He played college football at Iowa, Purdue, and Nebraska. He led Purdue to the 1943 Big Ten championship. He missed the 1944 and 1945 seasons while serving in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.
He played professional football in the All-America Football Conference for the Chicago Rockets and Baltimore Colts from 1947 to 1949. He appeared in 39 professional football games, 16 of them as a starter, and totaled 2,338 passing yards.
He rejoined the Marines during the Korean War and attained the rank of major. He served on the Omaha City Council from 1965 to 1969 and worked as a life insurance agent. He died in 1981 in Omaha.