Editing Brian Piccolo (section)

==Early life==
Piccolo was born in [[Pittsfield, Massachusetts]], the youngest of three sons of Joseph and Irene Piccolo. The family moved south to [[Fort Lauderdale, Florida]], when Piccolo was three, due to his parents' concerns for his brother Don's health. Piccolo and his brothers were athletes, and he was a star [[running back]] on his high school [[American football|football]] team, although he considered [[baseball]] his primary sport.<ref name=ycpcn>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UZ9RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Km0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7320%2C2456010|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |last=Morris |first=Jeannie |title=Young, confident Pic chooses the NFL |agency=(from ''Brian Piccolo: A Short Season'') |date=January 20, 1972 |page=10}}</ref> He graduated from the former Central Catholic High School (now [[St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)|St. Thomas Aquinas High School]]) in Fort Lauderdale in 1961.<ref name=ycpcn/>

Piccolo played [[college football]] at [[Wake Forest Demon Deacons football|Wake Forest]] in [[Winston-Salem, North Carolina]]; his only other [[athletic scholarship|scholarship]] offer was from [[Wichita State Shockers football|Wichita State]]. He led the nation in rushing and scoring during his senior season in [[1964 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team|1964]],<ref name=aptgs64>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UghPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UgEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6024%2C2228688 |newspaper=Toledo Blade |location=Ohio |agency=Associated Press |title=Piccolo top grid scorer |date=December 10, 1964 |page=62}}</ref> and was named the [[Atlantic Coast Conference]] (ACC) [[Atlantic Coast Conference football individual awards#Player of the Year|Player of the Year]],<ref>{{cite web |title=1964 Atlantic Coast Conference Year Summary |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/acc/1964.html |website=sports-reference.com |access-date=April 20, 2020}}</ref> yet went unselected in both the [[1965 American Football League draft|AFL]] and [[1965 NFL Draft|NFL drafts]].<ref name=plpsbypwks>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CC4sAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EcwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6386%2C4968593 |newspaper=Spartanburg Herald-Journal |location=South Carolina |agency=Associated Press |title=Pro loops bypass Wake's Piccolo |date=November 30, 1964 |page=9 }}</ref><ref name=blacls>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/classic/s/add_piccolo_brian.html|publisher=ESPN Classic|title=Brian's life a Song of friendship, courage |last=Puma |first=Mike |date=November 10, 2003|access-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref>

In the [[1964 NCAA University Division football season#Heisman Trophy voting|balloting]] for the [[Heisman Trophy]] won by [[John Huarte]] of [[1964 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|Notre Dame]], Piccolo was tenth, just ahead of [[Joe Namath]] of [[1964 Alabama Crimson Tide football team|Alabama]], and future teammate [[Gale Sayers]] of [[1964 Kansas Jayhawks football team|Kansas]].<ref name=hwnhsmn>{{cite news |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1964/11/25/page/35/article/huarte-wins-heisman-gridiron-trophy |newspaper=Chicago Tribune|agency=Associated Press |title=Huarte wins Heisman gridiron trophy |date=November 25, 1964 |page=1, sec. 3 }}</ref><ref name=jhhsmn64>{{cite web |url=http://heisman.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=30&path=football |work=Heisman Trophy |title=John Huarte |date=1964 |access-date=January 25, 2017}}</ref>

A season earlier in [[1963 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team|1963]], [[Darryl Hill (American football)|Darryl Hill]] of the [[1963 Maryland Terrapins football team|University of Maryland]] was the first and only African-American football player in the ACC. According to [[Lee Corso]], a Maryland assistant coach at that time, [[Wake Forest University|Wake Forest]] had "the worst atmosphere" of any campus the Maryland football team visited. Piccolo went over to the Maryland bench, walked Hill over to the area in front of the student section and put his arm around him, silencing the crowd.<ref>Recounted on the [[ESPN]] [[College GameDay (football)|College GameDay]] broadcast November 15, 2008</ref>

Following his spectacular senior season, Piccolo married his high school sweetheart, Joy Murrath, on December 26, 1964.<ref name=ppotaod/> They had three daughters: Lori, Traci, and Kristi.<ref name=ycpcn/>