Hall of Fame Defensive Tackle Art Donovan Passes Away at the Age of 89

Art Donovan, a 12-year NFL veteran and 1968 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died Sunday as the result of a respiratory ailment at Stella Maris Hospice in Maryland. He was 89.

The Baltimore Sun's Mike Klingaman reported that Donovan passed away surrounded by family and friends just before 8 p.m., the night of the 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton. There were 15 to 20 people who came to his bedside Sunday, including his wife Dorothy and daughter, Kelly Donovan-Mazzulli.

"My mom [Dorothy] was with dad to his last breath, as she was determined to be," Donovan-Mazzulli said.

Upon hearing of the legendary Donovan's passing, many in the NFL community reached out to pass along their condolences: 

Selected out of Boston College in the 22nd round of the 1947 NFL draft, Donovan went on to garner a reputation as one of the game's most tenacious defensive tackles. He spent the first three seasons of his career bouncing around from club to club, nabbing one-year stints with the Baltimore Colts, the New York Yanks and the Dallas Texans from 1950 to 1952.

But it was when Donovan returned to the Colts in 1953 that he truly found home. Finally in a situation where his talents could shine—Donovan's first three seasons were on teams that folded—the Marine Corps veteran put his training to good use on the gridiron. 

He went on to make the Pro Bowl in his first season back in Baltimore, the first of five consecutive such trips. His first of four All-Pro selections came a year later in 1954, as his ability to shed blocks and play with a never-ending motor made him impossible to stop.

While the individual accomplishments came to a halt in 1957—the year of his last Pro Bowl and All-Pro appearances—he traded those in for team honors. Donovan was a key member of the Colts' back-to-back NFL championships in 1958 and 1959, and he retired two years later.

He has since been named to the NFL's All-Decade team and had his No. 70 retired by the Colts. The Baltimore Ravens have also placed him in their Ring of Honor.

Donovan's name has been in the national lexicon long past his playing career, however, as his personality begun shining through after retirement. He has appeared multiple times on Late Night with David Letterman and was a co-host of Braase, Donovan, Davis in Baltimore during the 1990s.

Donovan also made plenty of other appearances across national multimedia platforms. If there was a couch and a host willing to listen about Donovan's playing career, it was said that No. 70 would be right there and armed with stories for days.

"Dunnie had all of his stories numbered," Alex Sandusky, a former teammate, told The Baltimore Sun. "Going to games, he'd sit in the last seat on the bus, the widest one. That was our 'story room.' Then he'd say, 'This is number 46 coming up.' "

His autobiography, Fatso, chronicles many of those experiences. Donovan is survived by his wife, sister, five children (one son, four daughters) and seven grandchildren.

Follow Tyler Conway on Twitter: