THE FLATS – Rock Perdoni, one of the most decorated defensive players in Georgia Tech football history, died last week at his home in Newborn, Ga. He was 78.
A legendary Yellow Jacket, Perdoni played just two seasons at Georgia Tech (1969-70), but was named All-America following both campaigns, including as a consensus selection in 1970. He remains one of only 22 consensus All-Americans in Georgia Tech football history.
Born in Gazzola, Italy, Renzo “Rock” Perdoni immigrated to the United States at age 6 and grew up in Wellesley, Mass. He went on to attend Ferrum College in Ferrum, Va., where he helped lead the Panthers to the 1968 National Junior College Athletic Association national championship.
Perdoni enrolled at Georgia Tech in 1969 and immediately made an impact for the Yellow Jackets, both on and off the field. He recorded a whopping 210 tackles from his defensive tackle position in just two seasons as a Jacket – 105 each campaign – a career total that still ranks as the eighth-most tackles ever by a Georgia Tech defensive lineman.
He earned third-team All-America recognition from the Associated Press as a junior in 1969, a campaign highlighted by his 10-tackle performance in Tech’s 6-0 win over Georgia. After leading the Yellow Jackets to a 9-3 record, including a 17-7 win at Georgia, a Sun Bowl victory over Texas Tech (in which he was named MVP) and a No. 13 final national ranking, Perdoni was a consensus All-American as a senior in 1970. He also served as a team captain each of his two seasons on The Flats.
He went on to play professionally in the Canadian Football League for Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Edmonton Eskimos and Saskatchewan Roughriders before a successful career in construction as the owner of Perdoni Bros. Construction in Sherborn, Mass. After retiring from the construction business, he returned to Georgia and lived on a farm in Newborn, about 50 miles east of Georgia Tech’s Atlanta campus.
He was inducted to the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1979.
Perdoni is survived by his wife of 52 years, Emaline, four children and 10 grandchildren.
Details for celebrations of life, which are planned to be held in Atlanta and the Boston area, have not yet been finalized.
