FERRUM, Va. -- Ferrum College mourns the loss of football All-American Renzo "Rock" Perdoni, who passed away on June 15 at the age of 78 at his home in Newborn, Georgia.

A native of Gazzola, Italy, Perdoni was the eighth and youngest child of Guido and Gemma Perdoni. At the age of six, he immigrated with his family to Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Perdoni played football at Ferrum Junior College, helping the Panthers win the 1968 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national championship. The title was Ferrum's second, following the 1965 championship, and the Panthers would go on to win two more NJCAA football championships in 1974 and 1977.

Listed on the 1968 roster as a 5-foot-11, 218-pound tackle from Wellesley, Massachusetts, Perdoni wore No. 77 for the Panthers. He was named an NJCAA All-American in 1968 and was the NJCAA Lineman of the Year that season. Ferrum finished 10-0 in 1968 under legendary head coach Hank Norton. Perdoni went on to play at Georgia Tech in 1969 and 1970, earning All-America honors both seasons, including consensus All-America recognition as a senior.

Perdoni was teammates with the seven former Ferrum Junior College football players and Coach Rick Tolley who died in the Marshall University plane crash. On November 14, 1970, a chartered plane carrying the Marshall football team crashed near Kenova, West Virginia. Aboard the plane were seven former Ferrum Junior College football players and Tolley, Marshall's head football coach at the time and a former assistant coach under Norton at Ferrum. None of the 75 passengers and crew members survived.

Perdoni went on to play professionally in the Canadian Football League. He later owned a construction company in Massachusetts before retiring and moving to Georgia. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Emaline; four children; and 10 grandchildren.

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