Vito "Babe" Parilli, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback and member of the 1960s All-Decade Team, died at the age of 87, the New England Patriots announced Saturday.
Parilli's professional football career spanned two leagues, five teams, 15 years and 189 games played. The quarterback was best known for quarterbacking the Boston Patriots for seven seasons in the early- to mid-1960s. As a member of the AFL franchise, Parilli played in 94 games, was voted to three AFL All-Star games and won the AFL's Comeback Player of the Year Award in 1966. Parilli held the franchise mark for most touchdown passes in a season (31 in 1964) until 2007 when Tom Brady threw 50 scores.
Parilli currently sits fourth on New England's all-time career passing list with 16,747 yards and fourth with 132 touchdown passes on 2,413 attempts. He was voted into the PatriotsHall of Fame in 1993.
As a member of the New York Jets in 1968, Parilli backed up Joe Namath during Gang Green's Super Bowl run, throwing for 401 yards and five touchdowns during the campaign.
Parilli also played for the Green Bay Packers (1952-53, 1957-58), Cleveland Browns (1956) and Oakland Raiders (1960). In the 1952 draft, Green Bay selected the quarterback fourth overall out of Kentucky, where he was coached by Paul "Bear" Bryant.