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

by Chris Willis

  This is why pro football is a more finished product than the amateur sport 25

  But Carr's charity toward black players would take a different turn after the 1933 season.

  Two weeks after seeing the Braves play their first game, Carr went west to watch the Packers-Bears game at Wrigley Field. On an overcast day Carr was extremely thrilled to see the stands filled with over 17,000 fans. After mingling with Packers officials, team president Lee Joannes, board members Gerald Clifford and Dr. W. W. Kelly, and coach Curly Lambeau, Carr then watched a game that would have bored the most enthusiastic pro football fan.

  A blocked punt by Tom Nash late in the second quarter went out of the end zone for a safety and gave the Packers a 2-0 lead. It would be the only score of the game, as the Pack won 2-0. Carr must have been thinking that with all the stars on the field for both teams, it seems inconceivable that a Packers-Bears game could end with a 2-0 final score. How would Carr put a positive spin on that display of NFL football? In speaking with the press he praised the Packers and their fearless leader, but not the performance: "Another great Green Bay team. To me, it is remarkable how Curly Lambeau continues, year in and year out to consistently produce a winner. Around the league, the other managers are rating him as a 'gridiron magician.' 1121

  The 1932 NFL season was turning into a year of no scoring and meaningless tie games, which, per the NFL bylaws, didn't count in the standings. After several seasons of gaining in popularity and momentum, Carr was seeing it slip away. The sport had too many dull, low-scoring games to this point. After the first two months of action-twenty-four league games-the NFL saw thirteen shutouts (which was 54 percent of the games) and seven ties (with four of those games ending in a 0-0 tie). Ironically, at a time when the NFL saw the least offense in years, the league had decided to keep official statistics. This is probably not what Carr envisioned. In speaking with Ralph Teatsorth of United Press International, Carr defended his league against the popularity of the collegiate game.

  Professional football is for those who understand the game. College football was built with a background of tradition and pageantry. The professional game hasn't much tradition or pageantry yet, but it provides the hardest and most interesting competition for those who love the sport purely for its own merits.

  We started in Boston with crowds of less than 5,000. The last two games there have drawn between 15,000 and 20,000 fans. This was somewhat a surprise in view of the conservative way in which Boston receives anything new in the line of professional sports.27

  Carr's unyielding confidence in his league always shined through when talking to the press, and during this small crisis he once again showed his true leadership by emphasizing the positives. Boston had attracted some large crowds against the Bears (18,000) and Packers (16,500), but they didn't produce a winning team, finishing with a 4-4-2 record. By midseason the Packers looked like a sure bet to win their fourth straight NFL championship. On the eve of their annual trip east, they were 7-0-1. Lambeau's squad had pretty much stayed the same (Hubbard, Michalske, Dilweg, Blood), but they added Hinkle and started to play Arnie Herber in the backfield.

  The road trip started with a 21-0 victory over the Boston Braves (November 13), and then one week later the Pack faced the Giants in New York. The Giants were a different team than in 1929-1930 as Benny Friedman was playing across the river for Brooklyn. Without Benny the Giants were scuffling with a 3-5-1 record, but Mara's men pulled off a big upset, shutting out the Pack, 6-0. That same day, both the Spartans and Bears won. On Monday, November 21, the standings looked like this:

  1-Green Bay Packers 8-1-1** (.888)

  2-Portsmouth Spartans 5-1-3 (.833)

  3-Chicago Bears 3-1-5 (.750)

  4-New York Giants 4-4-1 (.500)

  5-Brooklyn Dodgers 3-6-0 (.333)

  5-Boston Braves 2-4-2 (.333)

  5-Chicago Cardinals 2-4-2 (.333)

  8-Staten Island Stapletons 2-6-2 (.250)

  ** In 1932 the NFL did not count ties in the standings.

  After Thanksgiving Day games (November 24) and regularly scheduled games on Sunday (November 27) in which the Packers went 2-0, the Bears went 1-0-1 with a tie against the Spartans, who were playing their only game of the week. The Packers took a slim lead (Packers at .909, Spartans at .833, Bears at .800) into the league's final two weekends, but they would have to face the Spartans and the Bears on the road to wrap up the season. If they wanted to win their fourth title in a row they would have to do it the hard way.

  On their way south to Portsmouth, the Packers stopped off in Columbus for a couple of days to visit with President Carr and get in some practice before the big game. On December 4 the Spartans hosted the Pack and in a couple of hours the Green Bay dynasty was over. In a game that the Spartans team and fans had been waiting nearly a year for they took it out on the great Packer team. Playing only eleven men, Potsy Clark got his revenge as the Spartans simply destroyed the Pack 19-0. Behind the play of Dutch Clark (two touchdowns), Father Lumpkin, and Glenn Presnell (one touchdown), the "cheese champs" didn't have a chance.

  Despite one last game on the schedule the Packers were out of the championship race. As the Spartans were moving into first place the Bears defeated the Giants 6-0 and were still alive in the hunt for the NFL championship.

  NFL standings as of Monday, December 5

  1-Portsmouth Spartans 6-1-4 (.857); regular season completed

  2-Green Bay Packers 10-2-1 (.833); next game-December 11 at Chicago Bears

  2-Chicago Bears 5-1-6 (.833); next game-December 11 versus Green Bay Packers

  The two-team race was down to one last game, with the Bears having a chance to tie the Spartans for the title. Both teams couldn't have had more different emotions going in-one playing for a title and a proud champion not. How would each team play? Green Bay faced the Bears at Wrigley Field in a heavy snowstorm. The Packers' offense continued to flatline, and after three quarters the score stood at 0-0. A tie wouldn't help the Bears. Then in the final quarter the Bears scored twice to give them a hard-fought 9-0 victory, a 6-1-6 record, and a tie for first place with the Spartans (6-1-4). Despite all the disputed championships in the league's first dozen years, this was the first race to actually end in a tie.

  Had the league compiled its standings as it does now-counting a tie game as a half-win, half-loss-the championship would have gone to Green Bay. However, the rules established in 1921 were in effect. Winning percentage, based strictly on wins and losses, determined the order of finish; ties were simply ignored.

  Right after the Bears defeated the Packers in the snow on December 11, George Halas conferred with Spartans owner Harry Snyder about a playoff game to decide the NFL title. They agreed that it would be the best thing for the NFL, and Halas called Carr to ask if this game could take place. Carr was on board with the idea and gave the two teams permission to play the game at Wrigley Field the following Sunday (December 18).

  Carr's decision to play the game would make football history as the NFL was about to play its first ever postseason game. Although the game would be an extension of the regular season rather than a championship game, the playoff would count in the standings, which meant the loser would slip to third place behind the Green Bay Packers.

  For George Halas it had been one of the most unusual seasons in Bears history, as they started the year with three scoreless ties. Then their fourth game was the 2-0 loss to the Packers on a safety, which turned out to be the Bears' only defeat. "The start of the season was totally frustrating. We had devoted two years to developing the modern T-formation with manin-motion to open up the game and bring in new skills for scoring. We had so many good players.... Yet, we went through our first four League games without scoring. Not one touchdown. Not one field goal. Not even a safety. Finally we took off and went through the rest of the season unbeaten, " recalled Halas 28

  One of the Bears' biggest fans that season was the future Virginia McCaskey, the nine-year-old daughter of Papa Bear, who was
now devoted to the game her father loved. "I was very much involved then. Loved the game, mostly because it was so important to my dad and everything that was so important to him was important to me too," says Virginia McCaskey.29

  The NFL president could relate to the love of a daughter for her father, and his friendship with the Halas family would always bring back happy memories. "My memory of Joe Carr is his coming to dinner in our apartment on Campbell Ave. during my grammar school and high school days," says McCaskey.

  He was always well reserved and well dressed with his business suit, and his white shirt, and his tie and his glasses. He would always ask Mugs [her brother] and me about our school work and our activities. He paid special compliments to my mother because she fixed a chicken dinner, which was his favorite. She also had a chocolate icebox cake recipe that we all enjoyed. She didn't make it very often, so we were always happy when we heard that Mr. Carr was coming for dinner, because then we knew we'd get the chocolate icebox cake.

  Then after dinner he and dad would go into the living room to have their business discussions. Mugs and I would help mom clean up the dishes or something just to keep us out of the way. Now I look back and think, wouldn't it have been wonderful to sit in on some of those discussions. At that time I had no idea.30

  The first obstacle to this first postseason game was the weather. The Bears had played the Packers in a driving snowstorm in front of just 5,000 brave fans and the week of the playoff game it didn't get any better. For a week, bitter cold and heavy snow continued to pound the Windy City, and the possibility of playing the game at Wrigley Field-with any type of fan support-looked to be a bad idea. Halas remembered his team and the Cardinals playing a charity game indoors at Chicago Stadium in 1930, and he suggested to the Spartans that they move the game to the indoor stadium if the snow continued to fall.

  Although the weather looked to be the biggest problem for the Spartans, they had another dilemma. On Tuesday before the game it was announced that star halfback Dutch Clark would miss the game. Clark was scheduled to go back to his alma mater Colorado College to start his duties as head basketball coach. Since the playoff game wasn't on the original schedule, the Spartans didn't see this coming. Management contacted the school's athletic director and asked for permission to allow Clark, just this once, to show up late so he could play. In a Western Union telegram Portsmouth received the bad news.

  Dec. 14-1:17 PM

  To: HOMER C. SELBY, PRESIDENT PORTSMOUTH NATIONAL LEAGUE FOOTBALL CORP.

  REGRET IMPOSSIBILITY OF PERMITTING MR CLARK TO LEAVE HIS IMPORTANT DUTIES AS BASKETBALL COACH.

  CHARLES C. MIEROW. [Athletic Director]"

  The Spartans were dealt a big blow even before the game started. Despite the loss Potsy Clark-whose team arrived in Chicago on Thursdaywas still confident in his squad to pull out the victory. "I'll have the boys clicking again and we know the offense of the Bears and will plan to break it up. If the boys play any kind of ball at all, we should win."32 The two teams played twice during the regular season and tied both games, 13-13 (November 13) and 7-7 (November 27). Halas suggested to the press that if the teams were tied after four quarters they would play a ten-minute overtime to break the tie. There is no proof if this was agreed upon by the league before the game or not.

  Carr arrived in Chicago late in the week, and on the Friday before the game he announced that the contest would be played indoors at Chicago Stadium because of the snowstorm. Chicago Stadium was the perfect size for the events usually held there-hockey games and circuses. It was absurdly small for football-only forty-five yards wide (regular width is 531/3 yards) and eighty yards long, including the end zones. At least they wouldn't play on hockey ice. Fortunately for the players, a circus sponsored by the Salvation Army had just performed in the arena the week before, leaving a six-inch bed of tanbark on the cement floor.

  More than a few players and fans noted the peculiar aromatic quality of the playing surface. "It was stinking and dirty, " recalled Charles "Ookie" Miller, who played center for the Bears that game. "One of our players got sick in the stomach and threw up. Oh it was bad. I could tell you something else. We had a couple of nips the night before. That smell wasn't too good either. I could hardly get my head in that huddle.""

  "I remember being there, because I was nine years old. I remember the odor," says Virginia McCaskey. "The field was not your ideal field. It certainly was a lot more comfortable than being at Wrigley Field that particular week." "It didn't smell very good," remembered Glenn Presnell, former Spartans halfback who replaced Dutch Clark in the starting lineup.'

  Because of the confined playing environment, several rules were put into place to make the game easier. Little did they know these rules and the game itself would open the eyes of everybody involved in the NFL. To accommodate football indoors the two teams agreed to the following rules:

  1. The field would be only eighty yards long, including the end zones, with a single goal post placed at one goal line. Kickoffs would originate from the defensive team's ten yard line. Field goals were prohibited.

  2. When a team crossed midfield, it immediately was set back twenty yards.

  3. Because a solid fence surrounded the field only a few feet from the sidelines, the ball was moved in from the side ten yards (some reports say fifteen) after each out-of-bounds play, instead of starting the play right at the sideline with a loss of down. This would be the first time "hash marks" would be used in an NFL game.

  4. In the case of a touchback, the ball would be brought out to the ten yard line.

  The game was set for Sunday, December 18 with kickoff at 8:15 p.m. (Central Standard Time). Carr took his seat in section R (mezzanine), row F, seat 16 to watch the historic contest. As he sat down he saw an incredible sight-a soldout crowd. The capacity crowd of 11,198 had battled the elements to attend the NFL's first playoff game. The very warm fans came but they didn't see much. The confined conditions as well as the sloppy dirt really limited the play on the field. "It was very treacherous footing," remembers Glenn Presnell. "My favorite play was an off-tackle dive. One time we were close to the goal line, I ran off-tackle, as I planted my foot, it skidded out from under me and I went down. There was a hole there. I would've scored a touchdown."35

  Despite missing Dutch Clark the Spartans held tough and fought the Bears on even terms for three quarters. Neither team scored heading into the final quarter. Then Bears halfback Dick Nesbitt intercepted an Ace Gutowsky pass and retuned it to the Spartans' seven yard line before being knocked out of bounds. Because of the special rule the ball was brought into the field ten yards, costing the Bears a down. On second down Bronko Nagurski blasted six yards to the one; on third down Nagurski tried again but this time lost a yard. So on fourth down the game's pivotal play came up, and the history of the NFL would never be the same.

  Fourth and goal from the two! Nagurski got the ball a third time, faked a line smash, retreated a few steps and fired a pass to a wide open Red Grange in the end zone. Referee Bobbie Cahn signaled touchdown. "There was no way I could get through, I stopped. I moved back a couple of steps. Grange had gone around and was in the end zone, all by himself. I threw him a short pass," recalled Bronco Nagurski about the touchdown.36

  Spartans coach Potsy Clark stormed onto the field protesting that Nagurski was not five yards behind the line of scrimmage when he threw the pass as the rules required. "We were sure that he was going to make a line plunge. He wasn't anywhere near five yards back of the line of scrimmage, which was a rule in those days, " says Presnell. "It was an illegal pass. He wasn't five yards back. Of course he lined up about five yards back but when he took the ball he stared to plunge into the line. Then he jumped up. They counted it anyway."37

  "Well, I'm right in the middle. As I recall he started up and then jumped in the air and threw the pass," remembered Ookie Miller. "They complained of course. They claimed it was illegal, but Nagurski claims he backed up far enough that he was five yards back. We worked on that
play for months." Cahn was unmoved by all the protesting and held up the score. The Bears added the conversion and a few moments later a bad Spartans snap through the end zone gave the Bears a safety. Carr saw the Bears finish the game strong to win the 1932 NFL title with a 9-0 victory. "After eleven years the Bears were again champions!" wrote Halas in his autobiography. "Ralph Jones had delivered. Everybody acclaimed him. The modern T-Formation with man-in-motion had delivered."38

  Halas had title number two. The best thing about the game was the amount of press it received, as almost every major newspaper and smaller ones ran articles on the Bears big win. Kenneth Fry writing for the United Press described the "Indoor Circus":

  Chicago Bears defeated the Portsmouth, Ohio, Spartans on the indoor gridiron at the Chicago Stadium last night, 9 to 0, for the professional football championship.

  The playing field was six inches of dirt and tanbark spread over the stadium's concrete floor. The field itself was sixty yards long, forty yards short of the rule book length. Players standing on their own goal lines punted into the other team's end zone all evening. Punts from the middle of the field landed in the mezzanine balcony and adjacent territory. One kick knocked the "BL" out of the Black Hawks hockey sign. Another hit a sour note on the organ as the organist was playing, for obscure and undetermined reason, a song about "Cutting Down the Old Pine Tree."

  The organist played "Illinois Loyalty" when Red Grange caught a forward pass for a touchdown. By mutual agreement neither team attempted field goals. Windows cost money.

  Only one punt was caught and returned during the entire contest. One went out of the bounds, one was downed. The rest landed against the walls or sent spectators scurrying for cover. Officials spent more time picking large clinkers out of the soil than they did blowing whistles.39

  The Portsmouth Times called it "a sham battle on a Tom Thumb gridiron," although they did say the fans "enjoyed immensely the spectacle of an outdoor sport performed indoors." Spartans president Harry Snyder offered no excuses: "It was a nerve wracking contest. I never have seen anything like it. Of course we missed Dutch Clark but I don't know whether we could have won, if he had been here. Our quarterback made a couple of mistakes, but those were mistakes of judgements. He thought he was deciding right and went through with the play."40