Dave Cianelli was the first football player from Washington County to receive All-American recognition on the collegiate level and to be drafted by a team in the National Football League.

Recognized as one of the best all-around players in Hagerstown High School history, Dave sparked the Hubs to their first undefeated and untied season as a senior in 1946 as a hard-running fullback on offense and a hard-hitting linebacker on defense. This happened after returning as a teenager from military duty in World War II.

Scouted by many major colleges and universities, Dave accepted a football scholarship to the University of Maryland and its up-and-coming program, coached by the late, great Jim Tatum. He started his college career as a running back, but a knee injury delayed his climb to stardom in the collegiate ranks.

After recovering, Dave was switched to linebacker by Coach Tatum. This was a major move in propelling the Terps and Cianelli into the national college football spotlight.

With Cianelli anchoring the defense, the Terps compiled an outstanding record in 1951 and were invited to play national champion Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 1952. The rest is history. In one of the biggest victories in Maryland’s football history, the Terps upset the top-ranked Volunteers and Cianelli was named one of the most valuable players for Maryland.

Dave was drafted by the New York Giants of the NFL when his college days ended, but decided to pass up pro football for a career in business.