The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr

by Chris Willis

  Coach Ted Nesser prepared his team for the upcoming season, and Carr rewarded his squad with a gift even before the first game. On September 24 the Ohio State journal explained under the headline "Togs Are Gorgeous Ones."

  Panhandle football uniforms and blankets, which have been on exhibition at Spalding's, will be distributed Friday evening to the regulars and subs who have made the team and weather permitting will be in use for the first time next Sunday when the railroaders meet the Wyandottes at Indianola Park.

  The color scheme is maroon and gold, emblematic of the club. The body of the jerseys is of maroon with one and one-eighth inch alternating stripes of the club's colors the full length of the sleeves. The stockings also have alternating bands of the same colors and the material is of double thickness. The blankets are of extra high-grade wool and were made from a special design by William Gracey, the club's trainer. They are maroon in color and in the middle of each blanket is a large sunburst of gold, encircling a keystone, which in turn encloses the club's monogram composed of the letters P and H.

  Few football clubs will be better or more completely equipped than the Panhandle squad when it makes its initial appearance on the playing field."4

  The team now had new uniforms and new sideline blankets. Carr made sure his team looked first class, as most early pro teams barely made money to have matching uniforms. Carr used his resources to make his team look good to the paying public. Carr knew professional football had a future, so he wanted to make the Panhandles look like a first-class organization, especially since he was about to take his team on the road for good. The first trip was to Akron to play Peggy Parratt's Indians, who were pro football's best team in 1913 and who beat the Panhandles 19-0.

  The railroaders played a perfect football game against the Indians and came home with a convincing 26-0 win. The Akron Beacon-Journal praised the Panhandles performance, and the Canton Repository reported on their fashion style.

  Just a few words about the Panhandles. The Columbus aggregation looked trained to the minute. The Nesser boys never played the brand of football they are putting up this fall. Ruh, Snoots and Brigham proved valuable assistance. The Panhandles not only used the old style game to advantage, but made the forward pass count for many long gains. They played solid, consistent football and deserved to win.

  The Panhandles gave the Indians their first drubbing. That is not all. They will go along winning from the other professional teams in Ohio. Canton looks to be the only team which had a chance to make the Panhandles extend themselves. Manager Parratt admitted Sunday that he must secure new material to brace his team. Parratt never sleeps on the job. He says he will give Akron a winner, and Peggy can be depended upon to plug up the holes which showed in the Panhandle game.

  Columbus Men Finely Garbed

  In past seasons the Panhandles have never drawn any prize for the cut or pattern of their uniforms. They were never considered the Beau Brummels of the professional grid. This fall, however, hats must be lifted to the Columbus troupe. The Panhandles have been newly outfitted from head to heel with uniforms that have attracted considerable comment wherever they have played. Peggy Parratt, whose [Akron] Indians the Panhandles defeated 26 to 0, dubbed them the most fashionable team in the state.'

  Who would have thought that the rough-and-tough Panhandles would be the most stylish-looking team in professional football? As Parratt went in search for better players (as most early pro football managers did after a bad loss), the Akron victory propelled the Panhandles into a position of competing not only for the city title but for the mythical Ohio League championship. The city of Columbus was getting excited and the Ohio State journal was also on board with the railroaders:

  With the chances brighter than ever for the state independent football championship to fall to the lot of the Columbus eleven, fans feel that the Panhandles are closer to the goal through their defeat of the Akron Indians last Sunday. Manager Carr is arranging a schedule that will include every first class team in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana. The team is determined for once, if possible, to have the state championship rest in Columbus. On next Sunday the Panhandles will tackle the strong eleven at New Philadelphia. Coach Nesser has his men at work daily.'

  The next game took the railroaders north to face the pro team from New Philadelphia (Ohio). Behind the play of the six Nesser brothers, the Panhandles won their third straight game with an easy 37-0 victory. During the three-game win streak, the Panhandles had outscored their opponents 120 to 0. It seemed nothing could stop the Panhandles momentum. The following week that momentum came to a screeching halt when a game with the Dayton Oakwoods was cancelled: "Just as the Panhandle team was ready to start for Dayton yesterday, a message was received from the management of the Dayton Oakwoods that play would be impossible. A heavy rain was falling and the field was muddy from the week's downpour. The two teams will meet later in the season."7

  Mother Nature was the only thing that could have stopped the Panhandles. Joe Carr was never able to reschedule the game with Dayton, and the week off hurt the team's momentum as the next game would show. On October 25 the Panhandles traveled to Stark County to face the talented Canton Bulldogs managed by Jack Cusack, who threw the first shot at Carr and his famous Panhandles by giving the Canton Repository a pregame quote: "We must hand Columbus a beating. Victory will give us the title, for a time at least. Canton has never been able to boast of a state championship, not even fora week or two, but I think a precedent will be established Sunday"'

  Cusack respected Carr but he knew if his team was going to be taken seriously he needed to beat the Panhandles, and if a boastful quote put a few more people in the stands, all the better. Canton's management was confident in a victory and the Bulldogs played like champions, defeating the lifeless railroaders 40-10 before a crowd of 4,000 screaming Bulldog fans. The Canton Repository gave the home team all the praise.

  It is doubtful whether a Canton team ever played better football than did the squad Sunday. Not once did Capt. Hamilton make a mistake in generalship, only a few times did a play go wrong and only once did Canton fumble. This one foozie did no damage as the ball was recovered without a loss of a yard. Brilliant individual plays and smooth team work marked the progress of the Canton machine, bringing six touchdowns over the noted Panhandles combination which three weeks ago triumphed over the Akron Indians 26 to 0. The Columbus stars played their best and never showed signs of quitting but they were up against a foe of greater skill and ability.'

  The Bulldogs went on to finish the season with a 9-1 record, but it was still a bad loss for the Panhandles and the hangover from the Bulldogs whipping carried over to the following week. The railroaders made their second trip to Akron for the rematch with Parratt's Indians, who had added a few more players to the roster. The outcome this time was much different, as the railroaders lost any chance at the state championship by losing to the Indians 14-0. With a record of 3-2 the season was starting to slip away from Carr's boys. How would the team finish? The answer would be found in the team's last four games.

  First up was a trip to Indiana to play the tough Wabash Athletic Association-the champions of the Indiana Valley. On November 8 the railroaders got touchdowns from John Nesser and Emmett Ruh to help shut out Wabash 13-0 on a muddy gridiron. It was a great rebound win and the team needed it.

  The following week the railroaders played their sixth straight game on the road by facing the Toledo Maroons for the first time ever. The Maroons would become one of the Panhandles biggest rivals and would later play in the NFL in 1922-1923 (compiling a two-year record of 8-5-4). On November 15, however, the Maroons first game against the Panhandles was a tough one as the railroaders came away with a 7-4 win.

  Playing on another muddy field, fullback Frank Nesser scored the game's only touchdown. The Ohio State Journal reported on the game and the field conditions with the headline "Columbus Players Better Mud Horses Than Maroons in a Very Close Game":

  The Toledo Maroons lo
st their reputation as "mud beavers" this afternoon when the beefy Columbus Panhandle eleven "outmired" them in a "marine" encounter at Armory Park. After an hour's maneuvering about the rainswept field, the Pennsy crew, wearing an inch thick coat of clay, emerged with a 7 to 4 victory.

  The Panhandles' lone touchdown came in the initial period, and was the result of a blocked kick which Frank Nesser rescued on the locals' 12-yard line, and crossed the final marker. Ruh added another point by kicking goal. The Maroons sacrificed an opportunity to register a touchdown on two occasions in the second quarter, but were forced to be content with a safety."10

  The team now had a solid 5-2 record and would finish the season with two home games against opponents from Columbus who wanted to challenge for the Panhandles' city title. Coach Ted Nesser wasn't about to have his squad let up now; his boys would be ready to face any challengers. After six straight road games, Carr was pleased with his team's effort on the field, as well as the financial side of the enterprise, as the team made a small profit. Heading into the last two games in Columbus, Carr met with Columbus Citizen sportswriter Clyde Tuttle to help him promote his team and try to get fans to come out to the games, as they spent the last two months on the road. Tuttle wrote a colorful article on the great Nesser siblings.

  It is doubtful if any other family in the country can equal the Nesser family of Columbus. So far as is known the Panhandles have the only football team in the country on which six brothers are playing a wonderful game and making Columbus talked about.

  All of them are employed at the Panhandle shops and for years all of them have been prominent in athletics. While football has been the forte of all of them, several of them are crack bowlers and basketball players and one of them, Frank, plays baseball professionally.

  In height they range from Fred, the tallest, who is six feet five inches tall, to Ted, the shortest, who standing five feet 10 inches, is taller than the average man. The six brothers average about 190 pounds. Frank, the heaviest, tips the beam at 235 pounds, while John, the lightest, weighs about 160 pounds. There is a difference of 20 years of age. John, the oldest, is 41 years of age, while Alfred, the youngest, is just 21. In age they rank this way: John, Phillip, Ted, Fred, Frank and Alfred. All of them are perfect specimens of manhood. All of them are married and have families.

  Their parents are both living and both of them take an active interest in the athletic activities of their sons. It's as much of a certainty as anything in this world can be that both of them though more than 70 years of age will be at Indianola Park Sunday afternoon rooting for their sons when they line up with the Panhandles against the Bates Pirates, for the professional football title of the city, for announcement has been made that all of the six brothers will take part in this game."

  The publicity seemed to work. A day after the Nesser article ran, 3,000 fans at Indianola Park saw the brothers and the rest of the railroaders go out and score thirty-five second-half points to defeat the Columbus Bates Pirates 41-0. Ted Nesser scored three touchdowns to lead the attack. The score was lopsided and the play on the field looked odd as the railroaders played against one of their own when John "Pop" Schneider switched sides and played halfback for the Pirates. "Sometimes when the team would go out and play different teams, if the opposing teams they were playing didn't have enough players, they would take a player from the Panhandle team and put them on the opposing team. Most of the time it would be my father who would play against the Panhandles," said Irene Cassady, daughter of John Schneider. "My father was only five feet ten and weighed about 190 pounds, but he was strong, strong as an ox. But he would say the Nessers annihilated me. They would beat the tar out of him. 1112

  During the game Schneider had a punt blocked by Hi Brigham, which led to one of the Panhandles touchdowns. Another name on the Bates team looked familiar, too, as Homer Ruh lined up against his brother Emmett. After defeating the Pirates, Joe Carr scheduled one last game, against the Columbus Mendel's All-Stars, a team consisting of former college stars around Ohio. Behind two touchdowns by Ted Nesser and one by Lee Snoots, the railroaders came away with a convincing 19-2 victory. The All-Stars did manage to accomplish one thing as they became the first Columbus team in thirteen games to score a point against the Panhandles. Not since the October 3, 1909, game against the Columbus Barracks did the railroaders give up a score.

  The railroaders finished the season strong, winning their last four games and retaining the Columbus city championship. After all the roster changes and frustrating losses over the previous four seasons, Joe Carr saw his Panhandles finally put everything together. The backfield consisting of John Nesser (quarterback), Lee Snoots (left halfback), Emmett Ruh (right halfback), and Ted Nesser and Frank Nesser (fullbacks) combined strength with speed and helped the Panhandles finish with one of their best seasons ever. The 7-2 record was a tremendous achievement, and the winning ways would continue in 1915, which became a landmark year in professional football.

  Shortly after the season Joe Carr received some more good news; he and his wife were pregnant with their second child. As Carr heard this news he once again decided to put his future in the area of sports management. On March 16 he was named president of the Ohio State League, replacing William Read. Later in the year before the football season started he would resign his post as secretary of the County Liquor Board and concentrate all his time on being a sports executive.13

  After a tremendous season in 1914, the Panhandles responded with another great campaign. The win-loss record, a very respectable 8-3-1, didn't quite show it, but the 1915 Panhandles might have been their best team ever. Joe Carr's addition of quarterback Lou Pickerel, former Ohio State University star, added a great deal of versatility to an already powerful attack. He was a fine passer and adding his arm to Frank Nesser's gave the team an excellent air attack. It also was the first time Carr actively recruited a college star to play for the Panhandles by offering him a job with the railroad.

  The railroaders would go on to score 192 points (averaging 16 points per game), but once again the team's strength would be its hard-nosed defense. The Panhandles only allowed thirty-seven points in twelve games, including eight shutouts. The combination of offense and defense made the team worthy of the Ohio League championship. Joe Carr brought back most of the great 1914 team-all six Nessers, Hi Brigham, Roscoe Kuehner, Lee Snoots, and Emmett Ruh. The big additions were Pickerel and the return of Oscar Kuehner. These fourteen men played almost every game for the Panhandles in 1915. The two new additions would be needed as Carr set up the most challenging schedule any pro team in Ohio would play. The team played only four games in Columbus-two at the beginning of the season and two at the end. These games bookended eight straight road games with new trips to Detroit (Michigan), Fort Wayne (Indiana), Marion, and Youngstown, as well as old stops in Canton, Dayton, Massillon, and Toledo. This would be the first time in Panhandles history that they would play twelve games in a single season.

  After a 40-0 victory in the Panhandles' opener at home against the Columbus Smokers, Joe Carr would step back from football and join his wife Josephine in welcoming their new baby boy. On Friday, October 1, 1915, Joseph Francis Carr Jr. was born at home, and the whole city celebrated his arrival. In the morning edition of the Ohio State journal his pals at the paper congratulated him: "President Joe Carr of the Ohio State League was shelling out cigars last night. A son arrived yesterday afternoon at his home, 1285 East Long Street. 1114

  Joe and Josephine soon decided to have only two children, devoting their time and energy to giving the two Carr siblings everything possible. As Carr was at home with his family, the Panhandles defeated the Columbus All-Stars 45-0 at Indianola Park, showing Carr that they were ready to hit the road. The team prepared to play eight consecutive weeks away from Columbus and the first stop on the long road trip was a game north of Columbus in Marion to play the Marion Questions. The small town was excited about seeing the Panhandles and the famous Nesser brothers. On October 6 the Marion
Daily Star ran a feature article on the Nesser clan.

  In booking the Panhandles, of Columbus, for a game at Marion, next Sunday, the management of the Questions football team has shown, football lovers say, that nothing will be spared to give the football fans of the city the very best that is to be seen in this section of the country. The Panhandles have long been looked upon as one of the leading teams in the professional game in the country and in their ranks they have a feature that is possessed by no other team in the history of the game. Six brothers, the famous Nessers, are all members of the team and will play in the line-up against the Questions.

  The six Nessers brothers average close to 200 pounds each and each is a finished athlete. Two of them formerly played on the famous Massillon Tigers champion team and have played with the Panhandles since.

  Holder of a Medal

  John, who plays quarterback, is the holder of the Pennsylvania lines diamond medal for being the most finished athlete among the many thousand employees of the railroad system.

  Ted, who plays fullback and also coaches the team, has been pronounced one of the greatest football players of all time by college coaches and officials and has been offered a college course in many of the big institutions of learning in order that his service might be had on the college elevens. He was a half back on the Massillon team and today is one of the ranking players of the country in the professional game.

  Frank, the largest of the brothers and the one who does the punting, is a wonder at kicking the ball. Standing over six feet and weighing 220 pounds, his kicking alone is a feature of any game of football. College coaches readily admit that his equal as a punter and drop kicker is not to be found among the colleges of the Middle West.