Athlete - Football
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019
Despite being somewhat undersized for a defensive lineman, Portland, Maine native Ernesto (Ernie) Salamone was both a consistent presence and a force in the middle of the Acadia defensive unit from 1980 to 1984.
Entering Acadia in the fall of 1980, Salamone was part of a conference championship team in his freshman season. He was part of an Axemen defensive unit that allowed by far the fewest opposition points in the conference, a stingy 103 in eight regular-season games.
Despite falling short in their fifth Atlantic Bowl appearance in six years in 1980, the Axemen repeated as conference champions in 1981 and this time, went all the way to capture Acadia's second Vanier Cup. By now, Salamone had settled in at the nose tackle position on Acadia's defensive line.
Pound or pound, he was one of the most powerful players on the Acadia team. He had great technique and was the type of player counted on to make the 'big play' when it was most needed.
Former teammate Keith Skiffington recalls “in one Atlantic Bowl, we had a goal-line stand, and Ernie 'shot the gap' two plays in a row to create losses in the backfield and prevent the touchdown.”
Salamone exemplified all aspects of the ideal defensive lineman, including strength, speed, and football intelligence. During his Acadia career, he garnered his share of accolades, both at the conference and national level.
In 1982, he was a conference all-star at defensive tackle and was also voted by the AUAA coaches as the conference's Defensive Player of the Year and a nominee for the CIAU JP Metras Trophy as the national Lineman of the Year. He was also named to the first all-Canadian team.
The following season, 1983, Salamone was again named a conference all-star and repeated as both the AUAA Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team all-Canadian.
When Acadia selected and honoured its all-decade teams in 2005, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of Canadian football at Acadia, Salamone was one of the two defensive tackle selections on the all-decade team for the 1980s.
During his time at Acadia, Salamone was considered by many of his Axemen teammates as the ultimate team guy, whether on the field or off. He is remembered for always putting the team first.
Skiffington noted that both Salamone and fellow Hall of Fame inductee Stuart MacLean “were both winners, and their play and leadership inspired us all to be champions.”
Tony Munden, another former teammate, and a lifelong friend, agrees. “I always considered that the guys I practiced against every day were better than a lot of the opponents we played against on game day,” he said. To Munden, Salamone “exemplified all aspects of a defensive lineman. He was strong, he was fast, and he was smart.”
The Acadia Sports Hall of Fame is pleased to induct, in the Athlete category, Ernesto Salamone, a skilled defensive lineman and a defensive force on every Axemen team on which he played.