Colts Legend Art 'Fatso' Donovan, Dies at 89

"Fatso," the hard-drinking, hard-hitting, hard-joking and soft-hearted Baltimore Colt also known as Art Donovan, died Sunday at Stella Maris Hospice, according to multiple news reports. He was 89 and likely died talking.

Arthur James Donovan Jr. -- Fatso -- made the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968, only his second year of eligibility, and he was named first team All-Pro several times.

The Colts selected Donovan in the third round of the NFL draft in 1950, and by 1958, he had helped the team, and the city, to the first of two consecutive championships.

But for all his talent on the field, Donovan's true celebrity shined for a whole new generation of fans, who caught his act on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Late Night with David Letterman, where his irreverence and self-deprecation left the hosts and the audiences howling.

• See Art Donovan on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

"Rather than being all piss-and-vinegar, Donovan really was more wit-and-vinegar, bringing the middle days of pro football to a different audience by the force of his personality, and with a touch of humility."

Donovan's No. 70 jersey has already been retired by the Colts.