‘Mr. Anywhere’ ready to take his spot in college football’s Hall of Fame

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By Lindsay Travis | @KyKernelSports

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Steve Meilinger, a two-time first-team All-American and three-time All-Southeastern Conference honoree, is the fourth UK player to be inducted into the college football Hall of Game.

Meilinger played under coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant at UK from 1951-53.

“Bear Bryant was one of the finest coaches you could ever talk about, and he did an awful lot for me,” Meilinger said. “He helped me by giving me the right to let him teach me all about the sport.”

Meilinger played several positions while at UK, earning him the nickname, ‘Mr. Anywhere.’

He played quarterback, halfback, tight end, wide receiver, defensive end, linebacker, defensive back, punter, punt returner and kickoff returner.

“Halfback was my favorite because I used to carry the ball a lot,” Meilinger said.

Former teammate, and first-team All-American, Howard Schnellenberger was a freshman when Meilinger was a junior.

“I had the good fortune to be with him for those two years, in which time he played quarterback, halfback, tight end and wide receiver because he was the biggest, strongest, fastest, best athlete on the team,” Schnellenberger said.

Vito ‘Babe’ Parilli, former teammate, two-time first-team All-American quarterback and a hall of famer, remembers UK football as a predominately running team.

“We probably did pass more than the average team but when we did Steve was instrumental at catching the ball. And the thing he could do was block and be a complete tight end, which is hard to find today,” Parilli said.

In 1952, the Cats went to the Cotton Bowl and won against Texas Christian University, 20-7.

“I remember very well playing in the Cotton Bowl,” Meilinger said. “And when I was in high school I always thought I’d play at the big schools and play in a bowl game.”

After his time at UK, Meilinger went on to play professional football for six seasons.

“I played for three of the greatest coaches who ever lived – of course Bear Bryant at the University of Kentucky, Vince Lombardi at Green Bay, and Tom Landry for the Dallas Cowboys. Each one of them was great,” Meilinger said. “Vince Lombardi stands out the most because he was more like Bryant in his coaching.”

While at Green Bay, Meilinger was reunited with his former quarterback, Parilli. The two played together for two seasons.

Parilli remembers Meilinger standing out from the other wide receivers.

“The thing that I remember was when he’d get open across the middle he would call me by my real name. Everyone else would say, ‘I’m open.’ It was kind of unusual. But it was amazing,” Parilli said. “When I went back to pass there’s big Steve calling ‘Vito’ out instead of ‘Babe.’ I knew it was Steve and he was open.”

From 1962-83, Meilinger was a US Marshal, and he was one of the original six marshals who founded the federal witness protection program, according to his hall of fame bio from the National Football Foundation.

Meilinger’s induction into the college football Hall of Fame will be his sixth such honor.

He is a member of the State of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, the UK Athletic Hall of Fame, the Fork Union Military Academy Hall of Fame, the Lehigh Valley (Pa.) Hall of Fame and the Liberty High School Hall of Fame.

“This is the big one of course,” Meilinger said. “It’s been a long time coming. It’s over 60 years since I’ve graduated from Kentucky.”

Parilli agrees with his former teammate.

“I think it was long overdue, especially the way football is played today where they have specialists and all that,” he said. “A guy like Steve, he could play all these positions and excelled at each one of them.  I think it’s long overdue.”

Meilinger will officially be inducted into the Hall of Fame on December 10 in New York City. He will be 82 years old.

“So I know I’ll be the oldest one there,” Meilinger said. “It should’ve come a long time ago when I was in my prime.”