Ernie Nevers
Ernest Alonzo Nevers, nicknamed "Big Dog", was an American professional football and baseball player and football coach. Widely regarded as one of the best football players in the first half of the 20th century, he played as a fullback and was a triple-threat man known for his talents in running, passing, and kicking. He was inducted with the inaugural classes of inductees into both the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. He was also named in 1969 to the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team.
Nevers played four sports for Stanford University from 1923 to 1925 and was a consensus first-team All-American in football in 1925. He is widely accredited with inventing the Hook Shot in Basketball.
He played professional football in the National Football League for the Duluth Eskimos in 1926 and 1927 and the Chicago Cardinals from 1929 to 1931. In 1929, one week after defeating the Dayton Triangles, who were playing in their final game before moving to Brooklyn to embark on their long and tenuous history through the league, he set an NFL record that still stands by scoring 40 points in a single game. In the same game, he set another NFL record by scoring six rushing touchdowns in a single game against the Chicago Bears, a record that remained unequaled until the 2020 season in which New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara also accomplished the feat, scoring six touchdowns against the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Day. Nevers also played professional baseball as a pitcher for the St. Louis Browns of the American League from 1926 to 1928 and the Mission Bells of the Pacific Coast League in 1928 and 1929.
Nevers also had a long career as a football coach, including stints with the Stanford Indians, the Chicago Cardinals, Lafayette Leopards, Iowa Hawkeyes, and the Chicago Rockets.
Early life
Nevers' parents, George and Mary Ann Nevers, were immigrants to the United States from New Brunswick, Canada. In addition to Ernie, they had five sons and one daughter. By the time Nevers was born, the family had moved from New Brunswick to Willow River, Minnesota, where Nevers was born in 1902. The family moved again to Superior, Wisconsin, where Nevers grew up and attended Superior Central High School. In 1920, the family moved to a ranch and fruit farm in the Rincon Valley section of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County, California. Nevers attended Santa Rosa High School for the first half of his senior year. He led the Santa Rosa football team by scoring 108 of the team's 170 points. After starting the basketball season for Santa Rosa, he returned to Superior early in 1921 to play for Central. He graduated from Central that spring.In 1921, Nevers attended Santa Rosa Junior College and was the star of the school's football team. In a game against Petaluma, he scored four touchdowns and kicked six extra points and a field goal.
Stanford University
In 1922, Nevers enrolled at Stanford University. He played for the freshman football team at fullback and halfback in the fall of 1922.1923–24 academic year
As a sophomore, Nevers became a star for the 1923 Stanford varsity football team. He was described as "a sweet punter and a general all-around backfield star" and "the backbone of the Stanford offense."In the final game of the 1923 season, the dedication game for California Memorial Stadium, Nevers gained more yards than the entire California team, even though Cal won the Big Game 9–0. After the game, the Los Angeles Times wrote: "The desperate drive of Ernie Nevers... will go down in history as one of the greatest individual efforts ever seen on a gridiron."
At the end of the 1923 season, Nevers was selected by the United Press as the first-team All-Pacific Coast fullback.
He was also selected by Walter Camp as the third-team fullback on the 1923 College Football All-America Team.
After the 1923 football season was over, Nevers demonstrated his overall athletic ability by also starring for Stanford's basketball, baseball and track teams. He was rated as the Pacific coast's best player in both football and basketball, the best college pitcher, one of the leading track performers, and "a crack swimmer" as well. In April 1924, Stanford's assistant director of physical education, Harry Maloney, called Nevers "a freak genius" who also excelled in the classroom.
1924–25 academic year
As a junior, Nevers was sidelined for most of the football season after suffering two broken ankles. Under head coach Pop Warner, the 1925 Stanford football team won the Pacific Coast Conference championship with a 7–0–1 record in the regular season before losing to Notre Dame and the famous Four Horsemen backfield in the 1925 Rose Bowl. Five days after having a cast removed from one of his ankles, Nevers played all 60 minutes of the Rose Bowl, averaged 42 yards on his punts, and carried the ball 34 times for 114 yards, only 13 yards less than all the Four Horsemen combined.Nevers again proved to be a multi-sport star, competing for Stanford's basketball and baseball teams in the winter and spring of 1925. A newspaper account from February 1925 stated that he was "pressing for honors as the best all around athlete in the annals of the west." During the summer of 1925, Nevers worked for the Starrett Meat Company in Guerneville, California, and pitched for the town's baseball team.
1925 season
As a senior, Nevers and Pop Warner led the 1925 Stanford football team to a 7–2 record. At the end of the 1925 season, Nevers was a consensus All-American, receiving first-team honors from, among others, the All-America Board, the Associated Press, Collier's Weekly, the International News Service, Liberty magazine, the Newspaper Enterprise Association, and Athlete & Sportsman magazine.Professional football and baseball player
Jacksonville football team
In December 1925, Nevers received between $25,000 and $35,000 to play professional football for a team in Jacksonville, Florida. Nevers' team played two exhibition games against NFL opponents: the Chicago Bears, led by Red Grange, on January 2, and the New York Giants on January 9. However, meager crowds forced the team to fold after only two games.1926 St. Louis Browns
After his first venture with professional football ended, Nevers joined the St. Louis Browns of Major League Baseball. He appeared in 12 games, 11 as a pitcher, for the 1926 Browns, compiling a 2–4 win–loss record and a 4.46 earned run average in 74-2/3 innings pitched. At the plate, he had a.185 batting average in 27 at bats. Nevers threw the ball in an unusual underhand delivery. On August 13, 1926, in the highlight of Nevers' 1926 season, he pitched a complete game victory over the Detroit Tigers, giving up eight hits and two runs against a lineup that included Hall of Famers Ty Cobb, Heinie Manush, Charlie Gehringer, and Harry Heilmann, and Bob Fothergill who hit.367 that year.1926 Duluth Eskimos
In September 1926, Nevers left the Browns to play professional football for the Duluth Eskimos of the National Football League. Nevers' childhood friend Ole Haugsrud owned the Eskimos. The 1926 Eskimos, with a 16-man roster, played a 29-game schedule and compiled a 19–7–3 record. Nevers reportedly played 1,714 minutes out of a possible 1,740 minutes that year. Highlights of Nevers' 1926 season included the following:- On September 19, 1926, in Nevers' first game for Duluth, the Eskimos played their only home game, defeating the Kansas City Cowboys, 7–0. Nevers scored the game's only touchdown, kicked the extra point, and was reportedly "here, there and everywhere performing in a triple threat role."
- On October 10, 1926, Nevers led the Eskimos to a 26–0 victory over the Hammond Pros. Nevers threw a touchdown pass to Joe Rooney and also scored a rushing touchdown.
- On October 17, 1926, Nevers threw a touchdown pass, scored a rushing touchdown, and kicked three extra points in a 21–0 victory over the Racine Tornadoes.
- On October 31, 1926, the Eskimos defeated the Milwaukee Badgers, 7–6. The Los Angeles Times described Nevers as "the whole show", noting that he threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Rooney in the final five minutes and then kicked the extra point to give the Eskimos the victory.
- On November 11, 1926, Nevers scored all 13 Duluth points in a 14–13 loss to the New York Giants. Nevers' second touchdown was scored in the fourth quarter, but his kick for extra point to tie the game was blocked by Tillie Voss.
- On November 21, 1926, Nevers scored every point for the Eskimos in a 10–2 over the Canton Bulldogs. Nevers rushed for a touchdown and kicked a field goal and an extra point.
- On November 27, 1926, Nevers scored every point in a 16–0 victory over the Hartford Blues. He kicked three field goals, including one from placement at the 45-yard line, scored a touchdown, and kicked an extra point. After the game, The Hartford Daily Courant wrote: "The men of Nevers type must be depended upon to build professional football if it is to survive."