Alma Mater: Clairton, 1955 | Sports: Football, Basketball, Baseball
A dramatic black-and-white photo appeared in newspapers across the country on Jan. 2, 1958, capturing Navy quarterback Joe Tranchini pushing his way between two Rice defenders and into the end zone for the first touchdown in that year’s Cotton Bowl. However, across Western Pennsylvania, folks were already well aware of Tranchini’s athletic talents. The 1955 Clairton graduate led the Bears to a WPIAL Class 2A football title in 1954 as a quarterback and defensive back under legendary coach Neil C. Brown. More than three decades later, fans voted Tranchini as one of 23 players on the Western Pennsylvania All-Time Scholastic Team put together by the Pittsburgh Press in 1989. A multi-sport athlete, Tranchini earned nine varsity letters at Clairton in football (1952, 1953, 1954), basketball (1953, ‘54, ‘55) and baseball (1953, ‘54, ‘55). As a senior, he was elected captain of both the football and baseball teams. The Pittsburgh Pirates invited the high school catcher to two professional baseball tryouts in the spring of 1955, but the honor roll student instead accepted a partial academic scholarship to Bullis Preparatory School in Silver Springs, Md. He went on to become a three-year varsity letterman at the U.S. Naval Academy (1957, 1958, 1959) and was chosen to play in the 1959 North-South all-star game in Miami, Fla. Tranchini scored the first touchdown in the 1958 Cotton Bowl on a 1-yard run to lead 6-0. Navy won 20-7 with 75,504 fans in the stands. Sports Illustrated highlighted Tranchini as the magazine’s “Back of the Week” in its Oct. 11, 1958 edition. He also was chosen as an Academic All-American in 1958, was selected as the second-team quarterback on the All-East team and was an honored invitee at the Dapper Dan Awards banquet in Pittsburgh.