Ernest Cuneo
| Position: | Fullback, Guard, Halfback |
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| Personal information | |
| Date of birth: | May 27, 1905 |
| Place of birth: | Carlstadt, New Jersey |
| Date of death: | March 1, 1988 (aged 82) |
| Place of death: | Washington, D.C. |
| Height: | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Weight: | 192 lb (87 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College: | Columbia, Penn State |
| Career history | |
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| Player stats at PFR | |
Ernest L. Cuneo (May 27, 1905 – March 1, 1988) was an American lawyer, newspaperman, author, and intelligence liaison. He was also a professional football player in the National Football League.
Cuneo was also a star athlete in high school and later played football at Columbia and Penn State University. Afterwards, he played two seasons in the NFL for the Orange Tornadoes and the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Cuneo's first newspaper experience was as editor of the school newspaper at East Rutherford High School. During his college vacations, Cuneo worked for the New York Daily News. He later served as president of the North American Newspaper Alliance and was later editor-at-large of the Saturday Evening Post. For a number of years he wrote a syndicated column, "Take It or Leave It," which appeared three times a week. The success of the column led to an offer to take over the "National Whirligig," the original "news behind the news" column which appeared five days a week. Cuneo also wrote several books. His writings also appeared in several articles posted by the Professional Football Researchers Association. These writing reflected on Cuneo's own experiences in the NFL, as well as his friendship with Pro Football Hall of Famer, Benny Friedman.
According to Neal Gabler, from the mid-1930s on, Cuneo not only acted as a liaison between Franklin Roosevelt and Walter Winchell, but he frequently wrote long political items for the Winchell column.
After acquiring his law degree, Cuneo became law secretary to Fiorello LaGuardia, who was then a congressman representing New York. During this time, he would brief LaGuardia on the investigations of judicial malpractice and fraudulent bankruptcies. His 1955 memoir Life With Fiorello would serve in large part for the basis of the Tony Award-winning musical Fiorello!
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