Top 10 NFL Players of the 20s
James Francis "Jim" Thorpe was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe became the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States. Jim Thorpe was the founding father of what we now know as the National Football League. He overcame adversity and being a Native American to become the first great runner in NFL history. Hall of Fame great Jimmy Conzelman once said in 1963, "Jim Thorpe could have made any team in any league. What's more, he would have been the best player on that team. He would have been the best player in the league. There wasn't anything he couldn't do better than anyone else." A true NFL pioneer.
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Ernest Alonzo Nevers, sometimes known by the nickname "Big Dog", was an American football/baseball player and football coach who played American football as a fullback for the Duluth Eskimos and the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League. Ernie Nevers was truly an all-around player, playing for both the Duluth Eskimos and the Chicago Cardinals. He once played 29 games in 1926 and participated in 1,711 of the possible 1,740 minutes. He played both ways, and on Thanksgiving Day in 1929 for the Cardinals, he became an NFL legend by scoring 40 points. No other teammate scored a point in the historic 40-6 win over the mighty Chicago Bears. Nevers also played baseball as a pitcher and gave up two home runs to Babe Ruth in his 60-home run 1927 season.
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Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost" or "The Galloping Red Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. The NFL was still in its early years, and by 1925, it wasn't a sport people fell in love with. College football was the fan favorite. Then, during the 1925 NFL season, the Chicago Bears signed Red Grange after he completed his college career. He went on a 19-game barnstorming tour to promote the pro game, and he did so successfully. Grange was the same player who became a college all-star in Illinois. However, it took a toll on his knee, and by 1934, he retired. Despite this, he made a significant impact on pro football.
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George Stanley Halas Sr., nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was a player, coach, and owner involved with professional American football. He was the founder, owner, and head coach of the National Football League's Chicago Bears. Legend has it that George Halas played center field for the New York Yankees before being replaced by Babe Ruth. While this isn't true, Halas did become the founder of the Chicago Bears. He lived to see everything from the time Jim Thorpe first played in the NFL to the era of Walter Payton during his 63 years in the NFL. Sadly, he didn't live long enough to see his Bears win Super Bowl XX. However, he set up that 1986 win by hiring Mike Ditka as the team's head coach before the 1982 NFL season. A true Papa Bear.
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August Mike Michalske was an American football player and coach. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1964. Mike Michalske was the first great offensive player in NFL history. He played with football's New York Yankees before joining the Green Bay Packers in 1929, transforming the team into a dynasty. As a centerpiece for Curly Lambeau's championship Packers teams, Michalske became famous for his ability as a combination lineman-linebacker. He was a 60-minute man for 11 great seasons. As he said, "I just didn't get hurt. Don't ask me why. It got so the guys on the team began kidding me about getting paid by the minute."
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Before he became a legendary baseball manager, Cal Hubbard was a pretty good player on the gridiron. He did well as a Giant, winning a 1927 NFL title there. But when he joined the Packers in 1929, along with Mike Michalske, they turned the Packers from just a team into a dynasty. Hubbard helped the running game and played defense very well. The result was the NFL's first dynasty (1929-31). His famed coach, Curly Lambeau, once said, "Cal Hubbard, going either way, was the greatest I ever saw."
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Edward Francis Healey Jr. was an American football player. He played professionally in the National Football League for the Rock Island Independents and the Chicago Bears. Today, these players are million-dollar superstars, but in the first decade of the National Football League, that wasn't the case. Ed Healey lived through those struggling years and was still one of the best players of the 1920s. He described what it was like to be a player in that decade: "I got a hundred bucks a game from the Bears, which was nice, but the thing I appreciated most about being with them was the clubhouse. At Rock Island, the clubhouse had no showers and seldom a trainer. At Wrigley Field, we had a nice warm place to dress and nice hot showers."
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Walt Kiesling was a blue-collar man who played for six different teams and was honored as a member of the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team. He had surprising speed that allowed him to clear defenders as one of the NFL's first pulling guards. Kiesling had his greatest game when, as an offensive lineman, he made big blocks to allow Ernie Nevers to make football history by scoring 40 points in a 1929 game. Dick McCann once said, "Walt didn't just watch pro football grow from the rocky sandlots, he shoved it along the way. He gave almost half a century to the game."
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Paddy Driscoll was an offensive tour de force, playing alongside Red Grange. In 1925, he led the Chicago Cardinals to the NFL Championship. In 1922, he once beat the Bears twice with his kicking, scoring five field goals. Bill Whalen, a teammate of Driscoll, said, "Paddy was the guy who actually started to put pro football in the big league bracket. His debut preceded George Halas' by about two years, and Paddy was a big gate attraction before Red Grange finished his career at Illinois in 1925."
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Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau was a professional American football player and coach in the National Football League. Curly Lambeau was the man without whom the Green Bay Packers would not exist today. As a player, he did very well, excelling as a runner, passer, and pass catcher during a time when the NFL was struggling to become a major player. He scored a combined 35 touchdowns in passing, pass catching, and running. Today, Lambeau Field stands as a monument to his devotion to the Packers, and he is also a member of the Packers Hall of Fame.
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One of the early greats of the game, George Trafton was one of the first outstanding players to play on teams that won world championships. He played with the Decatur Staleys, winning a championship in 1921, and later with the Chicago Bears, winning another in 1932. Trafton opened up big runs for Red Grange and was also known as a brawler who made late hits, dirty tricks, and cheap shots. In today's NFL, he could've been fined or suspended many games. Jimmy Conzelman said, "Trafton was the only guy who claimed he was the world's greatest at his position - and actually was."
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