Donovan received a scholarship to the University of Notre Dame in 1942 but owing to the outbreak of war he left after one semester to join the United States Marine Corps, enlisting in April 1943.

Players formerly on the Colts roster were dispersed throughout the league via the 1951 NFL draft, with Donovan redrafted by the Cleveland Browns with the last pick of the fourth round in January.

Donovan, together with teammate Sisto Averno, were sent by the world champs to the weak sister of the league, the New York Yanks, apparently without receiving significant compensation.

Donovan made an important tackle during the overtime, stopping the Giants and allowing Johnny Unitas to lead the Colts on an 80-yard scoring drive to win the game.

He was noted as a jovial and humorous person during his playing career and capitalized on that with television and speaking appearances after retiring as a player.

70 Colts jersey in the famous Super Bowl XLI commercial with Oprah Winfrey and Jay Leno.

[9] Donovan's appearance at the event would become infamous among wrestling fans for being seemingly uninformed about the product as well as generally befuddled behavior such as repeatedly asking how much certain wrestlers weighed.

The trio talked more about Art Donovan's fabled stories than contemporary NFL football, but the show held high ratings in its time slot.

Although he was the owner, Donovan was known for doing manual labor at the club to include painting and working in the kitchen washing pots and pans.

[12] A funeral mass was held at the Cathedral of Mary our Queen in Baltimore, and he was buried in a private ceremony at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.

He appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and reduced both hosts and their audiences to howling in seconds.