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

by Chris Willis

  On May 18 Carr and the eight NFL owners (Charlie Bidwill missed because of sickness) gathered at the Fort Pitt Hotel in Pittsburgh to discuss some pressing matters. Starting at 12:15 p.m., Carr reviewed the several promotional ideas being developed by his office, including the release of another NFL publication for the fall of 1935. B. E. Callahan Publisher (Chicago) was authorized to produce a Who's Who in Major League Football that would be the equivalent of the very popular baseball version they published. Former Chicago American sportswriter Harold "Speed" Johnson along with Chicago Tribune scribe Wilfrid Smith would edit the magazine?

  Who's Who in Major League Football would also sell for twenty-five cents on newsstands and feature photos of almost every NFL player. But Carr came up with an idea that would help sell the magazine to a broader audience, by including a special coupon in each issue. When someone flipped over the cover, the customer would see attached to the magazine's title page a small coupon marked "For Ladies Only," good for a free ticket to selected NFL games. The coupon read, "This coupon may be exchanged at any box office of any club in the National Football League for a ticket entitling a lady to a grandstand seat at any one of the official games listed on the back of this coupon during the 1935 season ... PROVIDED the holder of this coupon is accompanied by a gentleman escort who purchases a ticket to the same game.""

  Carr was always looking for ways to get people out to the games. By digging back to his Panhandles days, he brought back Ladies Day in order to try and get more people out to NFL stadiums. In essence a buy one, get one free ticket was a good idea, and each NFL team provided Carr one home game to accompany the promotion. The owners then got down to the most important business of the meeting. Taking the floor Eagles owner Bert Bell raised a motion that changed the NFL forever.

  Gentlemen, I've always had the theory that pro football is like a chain. The league is no stronger than its weakest link and I've been a weak link for so long that I should know. Every year the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Four teams control the championships, the Giants and Redskins in the East, and the Bears and Packers in the West. Because they are successful, they keep attracting the best college players in the open market-which makes them successful.

  Here's what I propose. At the end of every college football season, I suggest that we pool the names of eligible seniors. Then we make our selections in inverse order of the standings, with the lowest team picking first until we reach the top-ranking team, which picks last. We do this for round after round until we've exhausted the supply12

  Bell proposed a smarter and more balanced way of distributing college stars within the league. Then Bell and the owners laid down five key points in the selection of players that would "for the first time become operative beginning with the 1936 season."

  1. At the annual meeting in February [1936], and each succeeding year thereafter, a list of first year eligible players is to be presented to each club, and their names placed upon a board in the meeting room for selection by the various clubs. The priority of selection by each club shall follow the reverse order of the championship standing of the clubs of the preceding season; for instance, the club which finished last in either division, to be determined by percentage rating, shall have first choice, the club which finished next to last, second choice, and this inverse order shall be followed until each club has had one selection or has declined to select a player, after which the selection shall continue as indicated above until all players names appearing on the board have been selected or rejected.

  2. Any first year player who is not so chosen, or whose name does not appear on the list referred to above, is eligible to sign with any club in the League.

  3. If for any valid reason it would be impossible for a player to play in the city by which he has been selected, if the player can show reasonable cause why he should be permitted to play in a city other than that designated for him, then through such arrangements as can be made by sale or trade with another club, he shall be permitted to play in the city he prefers, if the President of the League approves his reasons as valid.

  4. In the event of controversy between a selected player and a club, the matter shall be referred to the President, and his decision shall be accepted by all parties as final.

  5. In the event a player is selected by a club and fails to sign a contract or report, he shall be placed on the reserve list of the club by which he was selected.13

  The motion was carried unanimously. President Carr and the other owners realized this was an idea that was best for the league. The NFL could maintain what has now been labeled as "competitive balance." Back then it was just a way of not killing off the weaker franchises to stockpile the strong teams. "I thought the proposal [was] sound. It made sense. Tim Mara also approved. He and I had more to lose than any other team. With our support the proposal was adopted," recalled George Halas. "People come to see competition. We could give them competition only if the teams had some sort of equality, if the teams went up and down with the fortunes of life. Of course, that meant that no team would in the future win a championship every third year and people would start saying, 'What's happened to the Giants? They aren't the team they used to be.' That was a hazard we had to accept for the benefit of the League, of professional football and of everyone in it," commented Tim Mara about the new arrangement.14

  Carr and the NFL owners seemed to be on the same page with this issue and it would eventually be one of the biggest foundation blocks of the big-city League. Just when it looked like President Carr could relax and celebrate the growth of his league, somebody tried to oust him from his position. G. A. Richards could see that the NFL was about to take off as a big-city sport and thought the league needed a big name running it. In Pittsburgh Richards brought with him Steve Hannigan, a promoter who was responsible for the building of Miami Beach as a tourist spot, to allow him to present his ideas for the NFL. While in the Steel City, Richards tried to influence other owners that Hannigan was the right man to run the NFL. Several owners listened (George Preston Marshall was intrigued) but none were really sold on the idea. They knew Carr was the right man, and his track record as one of the founding fathers of the NFL proved that to them. But before the meeting adjourned, Marshall raised a motion (seconded by Art Rooney) that "the salary of the President be fixed at $5,000 per year-plus Secretary and office.""

  The president's current salary was set at $3,000 per year and had been since 1929. Marshall might have thought that if they were going to get a known promoter like Hannigan to run their league, they had to offer more than the three grand. The motion carried. The election of officials wouldn't occur until the summer scheduling meeting the following month. Carr wasn't nervous; he was in this for the long run. Upon returning to Columbus Carr spent some time relaxing with his family. It was time well spent for the fifty-five-year-old sports executive. Before leaving for the one-day summer meeting that fell on Father's Day, Mary Carr handed her beloved dad a card celebrating his special day. On the front of the envelope Mary wrote "To the Father of All Fathers. From His Grateful Daughter-God Bless You My Darling!" Inside she wrote

  Daddy:

  It isn't much I know, but since you have all the love, devotion and gratitude a daughter can give a wonderful father, after all that's what really counts.

  My only regret, is that one lifetime is too short to repay you for all you have done for me. To have you spared to me is all I could ask for from Our Lord, His Holy Mother and the Angels.

  Your Lamb"

  The note from his daughter made the trip to Chicago on Father's Day weekend very enjoyable for Carr. He knew he was doing great things in establishing the NFL as a big-city sport, and the support of his wife and children while he was away made it easier for him to be gone. Carr arrived at the Palmer House in Chicago on June 16 to begin the summer meeting. All nine teams were present as the league approved a new constitution and bylaws with all the additions from the previous meeting included. Then the big moment arrived for Carr
with the election of league officials.

  G. A. Richards was present but didn't recommend anybody for the post of president. The owners reelected Carr as president, but this time they gave him a five-year contract at the new salary of $5,000 a year. Carr was overwhelmed. Ever since he was elected as president in 1921 he had worked with a yearly contract. The owners had now voted him a long-term contract with more power and a nice pay raise. His work was appreciated by all the owners. "Richards was a real flamboyant character. He was a sharpie, a hustler. With him, everything had to be a big promotion. He wanted to fire Joe and hire Steve Hannigan to be the President. Richards said, 'Look, Joe Carr's a nice guy and he's good with paperwork but what this league needs is a promoter, a man with new ideas," remembered Art Rooney in a 1977 interview.'7

  "Needless to say, Richards didn't get much support. Halas said 'Look, Richards, Joe Carr got this league started when you were still polishing windshields. If you have any ideas about dumping him, forget it,"' said Rooney. Richards' recommendation for a new leader was futile from the start. "Although my father had different ideas of who should run the league. He seemed to like Joe Carr very much," says Rozene Supple, daughter of George Richards.18 The confidence given by the owners to Carr just reaffirmed that he was making a difference in the sport he loved. It had been twenty-nine years since he became the team manger of the Columbus Panhandles and roamed the sidelines of a professional game for the first time. Now he was at the top of his profession. With help from a group of owners who respected his leadership, he was developing a foundation that would give the NFL a solid base for the future.

  Carr celebrated the good news with a nice dinner paid for by the owners. After the feast Carr presented a rough draft of the league schedule and adjourned the meeting. The reaction to Carr's new contract and salary was favorable, although Carr was somewhat taken aback by the press calling him a "czar." Most of the headlines claimed that Carr's new contract and power put him in the same capacity as Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the baseball commissioner who was given the moniker of czar after cleaning up baseball following the 1919 World Series scandal. It was not a title Carr cared for.19

  In NFL Bulletin, number 7, Carr wrote to the owners that "There has been a great demand on this office from the press in all sections of the country for the schedule, which confirms my belief that interest in the League is growing by leaps and bounds." On July 20 Carr released the full NFL schedule to teams and the press. "The schedule is by far the most attractive and evenly balanced the league has ever played." In 1935 NFL teams would play a twelve-game schedule-the first time in league history each team would play the same amount of games (fifty-three regular season games) 20

  Carr's effort to promote the league as a big-time, big-city sport was finally taking shape. As the season approached Carr made agreements for football cards to be made by the National Chicle Company; he released the Official Guide of the National Football League; and saw to it that Potsy Clark's instructional magazine-showing how NFL players played the game-got published. The league and its players were everywhere. It was now time to start the season. "During the off-season many new players have been added to the various clubs, and it is the opinion of every club owner in the league that the 1935 race will be the closest in the history of the professional loop," Carr said to the press. Before the regular season began, Arch Ward brought back the Chicago Tribune Charity All-Star Game. The success of the previous contest encouraged Ward to do it again and it proved to be a bigger hit. A crowd of 77,450 jammed Soldier Field to watch the Bears defeat the College All-Stars 5-0.11

  Carr attended the game and on the field he saw a future president of the United States suit up for the College All-Stars. Gerald Ford, an AllAmerican center at Michigan, played his final football game. Ford, who was offered a professional football contract by the Packers, decided to go in a different direction. But he always stayed a big football fan the rest of his life. The NFL season opened on Friday, September 13, in Philadelphia with a night game between the Pirates and Eagles at Temple Stadium. Carr attended the game with NFL owners George Preston Marshall and Dan Topping. They saw a crowd of 20,000 screaming fans cheering at the top of their lungs. For Carr it was a fantastic sight.

  After the game Carr ran into one of the country's most famous columnists-Damon Runyon-and was very excited about the future of the NFL. "It looks as if this is the big year we have been waiting for. It looks as if the pro game has definitely arrived." Carr returned home basking in the start of the 1935 season. In the newest NFL Bulletin he wrote, "ATTENDANCE figures for opening games in the various cities far exceeded those of many previous years. The President attended three openings, and was certainly proud of the high class manner in which the games were put on in each of the respective cities."22

  The season looked to be a success for the ever-growing league and the 1935 campaign would belong to the city of Detroit. After four years of successful play in Portsmouth and the heart-breaking end to the 1934 campaign, the franchise known as the Detroit Lions finally put it all together by winning the Western Division with a 7-3-2 record. To top it off they defeated the mighty Bears 14-2 on Thanksgiving Day to wrap up the division title. Behind the backfield play of Dutch Clark, Glenn Presnell, Ernie Caddel, and Ace Gutowsky, the Lions rushed for 1,773 yards (second in the league) and a league-high fifteen touchdowns. The NFL's best player, Dutch Clark, led the NFL in scoring with fifty-five points as the Lions made plans to host the NFL Championship Game.

  After a 4-3 start the East was once again won by the New York Giants with a 9-3 record. The turning point was a 20-3 loss on November 3 to the Bears in front of a league-high 40,000 fans at the Polo Grounds. Two weeks later the Giants won the rematch in Chicago, 3-0, and then rattled off four consecutive wins. For the third straight year Tim Mara's men would play for the NFL championship. The title game was set for December 15 at University of Detroit Stadium.21

  Despite all the success of the Lions in 1935, the championship game would be somewhat of a letdown for Richards and the NFL. With snow showers all morning, only 15,000 fans-paying three dollars a ticketventured out to see the NFL crown their champion. The snowy field was muddy and slippery but it didn't slow down the Lions running game. After the kickoff the Lions completed their only two passes of the gameincluding a twenty-six-yard completion to Frank Christensen-that led to a two-yard touchdown run by Ace Gutowsky. After an interception the Lions scored again on a weaving sideline-to-sideline forty-yard run by Dutch Clark. Even before everyone could sit down the Lions were ahead 13-0.24

  The two teams played a scoreless second quarter before heading into the locker rooms. President Carr spoke to the crowd at halftime and got a cheer from the pretty soaked Lions faithful. Five minutes into the third quarter, the Giants finally put a touchdown on the board behind a Ken Strong touchdown catch. But in the final period the Lions would never let the Giants come close to scoring again. Late in the game a blocked punt led to a short touchdown run by the Lions. Then a short time later an interception return set up another short scoring run by the Lions. After just two years in Detroit, the Lions were world champions. The 26-7 win was rejoiced throughout the Motor City.

  Total receipts from the game totaled $33,477 with the Lions players getting $313.35 per man and the Giants getting $200 each.25 The championship game wasn't quite as exciting as the previous two, but nonetheless it was still a success. Carr was satisfied with the totals but was still concerned about the game being affected by bad weather. Writing in the NFL Bulletin after the game, Carr expressed his feelings toward the championship game and how the NFL could continue to grow.

  IN addition to the splendid crowd which turned out on a very disagreeable day at Detroit, you would all have been proud to see the splendid sportsmanship and fine display of skill put on by both clubs participating in this contest. Hard fought every minute, play was extremely clean, and the newspaper men were loud in their praise of the fine exhibition.

  IT was gratifying to note the numbe
r of out of town newspaper men who were present at the game, all of which indicates the ever increasing interest in our League by the public, press and radio. I know we will all do our best to see that this is continued.

  DON'T forget that even though the regular season is over we should try to keep some Professional Football matter before the public throughout the entire year. Every time the opportunity presents itself the name of your club should be in your local papers.26

  Carr's last statement was his way of encouraging his franchises to promote their teams as much as they could all year round-365 days. The NFL was finally becoming a big-city sport and the league needed to act like it.

  arr had now finished fifteen years on the job as president of the NFL. He had a long-term contract and was considered among his peers to be one of the finest sports executives in the country. He was on top of the world. In January of 1936 Carr was asked by the Associated Press to write a recap on the just concluded NFL season. The article appeared in newspapers all across the United States:

  The National Football League enjoyed the best season of its history during 1935. Not only was attendance the largest, but many outstanding critics thought the play by all teams was superior to any preceding year. This was due largely to the fact that the rules operative in the National League were becoming more thoroughly used by the coaches, and the players who had served in the league, together with the newcomers, seemed to have a finer grasp on them....

  The open type of play and the revival of the field goal kicking brought about through restoration of the goal posts to the goal line has proved the wisdom of the changes made by the professional league, and is evidenced by increased interest and attendance in every city in the circuit.... The outlook for 1936 exceeds all previous seasons. The crop of football players that will graduate next June and become eligible for National League competition has never been so large, and with the personnel our clubs now have and the additions that can be made from the boys who graduate, each team should be stronger for 1936.1