The Old-School Burger Chain Built By NFL Stars That Disappeared In The '80s

It's not uncommon for professional athletes to try their luck opening a restaurant after hanging up their cleats (or whatever footwear they wore to play their respective sport). They're actually uniquely well-positioned to do so: while running a restaurant is by no means cheap or easy, retired athletes generally have enough money and name recognition (at least locally) to clear those hurdles. (Hey, not all of us can get a McDonald's deal like Angel Reese.) Some are even successful enough to create a franchise (or a theme restaurant that defined the '90s, like the Official All-Star Cafe), even if it doesn't last forever — like Gino's Hamburgers, a chain started by a few football players in Maryland that started in the 1950s and lasted into the 1980s.

Gino's Hamburgers was founded in 1957 by Joe Campanella, a former linebacker for the Baltimore Colts, and his teammate, running back Alan Ameche. (There was also a non-football player, Louis Fischer, involved in the operation.) Before long, they managed to convince another Colts legend, Hall of Fame defensive end Gino Marchetti, to become a partner, eventually naming the chain after him. As the name indicates, the chain specialized in hamburgers, but it also became known for its fried chicken. In fact, Gino's was the sole franchisee for KFC in the mid-Atlantic, meaning if you were in Maryland or Delaware and you wanted some of Colonel Sanders' famous chicken, you'd have to go to Gino's.

So, what happened to Gino's? In 1982, it had over 350 locations on the East Coast — certainly not McDonald's numbers but impressive for a regional chain. Unfortunately, it fell victim to some good old-fashioned mergers and acquisitions. In 1982, the chain was bought by the Marriott Corporation, who promptly discontinued the Gino's brand and started turning all its locations into Roy Rogers restaurants. It was a pretty ignominious end for a chain named after an NFL legend.

Luckily, in 2010, the brand was revived, at least locally, as Gino's Burgers and Chicken. Marchetti was still around to push the effort, repurposing it as a fast casual chain rather than a fast food franchise like it was in the past. While it never came close to its peak in the 1980s, there are still two Gino's in Towson and Glen Burnie, Maryland. Although Marchetti died in 2019, we're sure he'd be glad to know that his name and legacy lives on through reasonably-priced hamburgers and fried chicken.