Art Donovan passed away this week at the age of 89. The former Baltimore Colts defensive lineman made a second career about telling stories from his first career.

Donovan cracks up Johnny Carson in this appearance on The Tonight Show.

Peter Richmond of Sports on Earth wrote about one of football’s most unique characters:

Artie wanted to be a cop, then a teacher. He applied to Columbia to see if he could get some teaching credits; the Ivy bastion, after reviewing the application, advised him to stick with professional football. So he did. And took another ring in ’59 when they routed the Giants. Marchetti was the leader of the defense; the man his teammates called Fatso was the court jester — until the opening kickoff. He was good. He’s in the Hall of Fame. He was All-Pro four times. Then after the final whistle, he’d be Fatso again, when he’d bitch about how the strongest refreshment in the locker room was orange soda.

By the ’80s, Artie knew he had a good thing, this gift of storytelling. So natural were his chops that he would become a Letterman regular. But he knew it was shtick. He was a Bronx guy at heart. And when he was running the country club down in Maryland, you could always find him — not at the bar, in that basement kitchen.