The Man Who Built the National Football League Joe F. Carr Chris Willis THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC. Lanham (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK 2010 1100__222255__0011__ffrroonntt..iinndddd ii 77//1122//1100 77::1144 AAMM Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 http://www.scarecrowpress.com Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom Copyright © 2010 by Chris Willis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Carr, Joe F., d. 1939. The man who built the National Football League / Joe F. Carr, Chris Willis. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8108-7669-9 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-7670-5 (ebook) 1. Carr, Joe F., d. 1939. 2. National Football League—History—20th century 3. Football managers—United States—History—20th century 4. Football. I. Willis, Chris, 1970- II. Title. GV954.C368 2010 796.332640973—dc22 2010005351 (cid:2) ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America 1100__222255__0011__ffrroonntt..iinndddd iiii 77//1122//1100 77::1144 AAMM Contents Foreword James A. Carr, grandson of Joe F. Carr v Preface vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction: One Man’s Vision xiii Part I: Humble Beginnings (1879–1919) 1 The Irish Way (1841–1878) 3 2 Growing Up in Columbus, Ohio (1879–1893) 8 3 The Love of a Family Is Replaced by a Love of Sports (1894–1906) 13 Pro Football’s Rag Days 22 4 The Columbus Panhandles and the Great Nesser Brothers (1907–1909) 26 5 Starting a Family (1910–1913) 45 6 Pro Football’s Most Famous Traveling Team (1914–1916) 66 7 Making a Name for Himself (1917–1919) 96 Part II: The Presidency (1920–1939) 8 The American Professional Football Association (1920) 119 iii 1100__222255__0011__ffrroonntt..iinndddd iiiiii 77//1122//1100 77::1144 AAMM iv Contents 9 President Elect (1921) 133 10 The National Football League (1922) 145 11 Defending Professional Football (1923) 160 12 Baby Steps for President Carr (1924) 172 13 The NFL Comes to New York City (1925) 181 14 The Galloping Ghost and Pottsville Controversy (1925) 192 15 The Grange League (1926) 208 16 Traveling for a Cause (1927–1928) 227 17 How Do We Get to the Big Cities and Stay? (1929–1930) 244 18 Small-Town Green Bay Is Titletown (1931) 267 19 Indoor Circus (1932) 279 20 The Pro Game Separates Itself from the College Game (1933) 299 21 Sneakers in New York (1934) 322 22 The Postgraduate Game Is Finally a Big-City Sport (1935) 337 23 Packers, Redskins, and the NFL Draft (1936) 348 24 Heart of Gold Continues to Work (1937) 357 25 “Greatest Show in Football” (1938) 368 26 Death of a President (1939) 380 27 Aftermath 393 28 Pro Football Hall of Fame (1963) 397 29 The Legacy of Joe F. Carr 402 Appendix: Dates and Locations of NFL Meetings Presided by NFL President Joe F. Carr (1921–1939) 407 Notes 409 Bibliography 439 Index 447 About the Author 461 1100__222255__0011__ffrroonntt..iinndddd iivv 77//1122//1100 77::1144 AAMM Foreword It is a pleasure to introduce a book that I have watched grow from its inception to publication. It was at our Aunt Mary’s “knee” that my four brothers—John, Michael, Dennis, and Gregory—and I were told about the life and outstanding accomplishments of our grandfather, Joe F. Carr. Now, thanks to his tireless efforts, author Chris Willis shares the life and career of Joe Carr for all to enjoy. Like so many of our ancestors in the United States, Joe Carr’s family fled the terrible conditions of mid-nineteenth-century Ireland. They came to settle in the town of Columbus, Ohio. Joe Carr was a railroader; a ma- chinist; a sportswriter; a manager of the semipro football squad, the Co- lumbus Panhandles; and the chief organizer of Major League Baseball’s minor league system. He was also the devoted husband of his wife, Jose- phine Sullivan; the father of two adoring children, Mary and Joe Jr.; and a deeply religious man. All of these factors came to fruition when, in 1921, Joe Carr was elected president of the APFA—the American Professional Football Association— which Carr immediately renamed the National Football League (in 1922). From 1921 until his death in 1939, he sowed the seeds of a sports organiza- tion that, arguably, has become one of the most popular in the world. Chris Willis’s extensive biography artfully expands upon this brief summary of the life of Joe Carr. I am fortunate to know Chris Willis, and I have been enormously impressed with his tenacity and tireless efforts in spending untold hours to create this biography of my grandfather. He is an author who leaves “no stone unturned” in his efforts to assemble all of the pertinent facts. For example, when researching his previous work v 1100__222255__0011__ffrroonntt..iinndddd vv 77//1122//1100 77::1144 AAMM vi Foreword on the Columbus Panhandles, Chris discovered that the team records had been destroyed. Undaunted, Chris researched all of the relevant local newspapers of the day covering a period of nineteen years to reconstruct the evidence of the Columbus Panhandles’ past. As in his prior books and articles, Chris Willis tells this story in a di- rect, readable, and entertaining style. The members of my family are very grateful to Chris for telling this story of our famous relative. His work demonstrates that Joe Carr had a vision of a pro football league, and without that vision and a higher purpose beyond short-term profits and “relaxing the rules,” the league would have perished. This vi- sion and the singularity of purpose, shared with such pioneer owners as George Preston Marshall of Washington D.C., Art Rooney of Pittsburgh, Tim Mara of New York, Charlie Bidwill of Chicago, Bert Bell of Phila- delphia, and George Halas of Chicago, made the dream of the National Football League the reality it is today. I am confident that all who read this book, historian and the fan alike, will find it a very enjoyable and informative read. Many thanks to Chris Willis for bringing the life of Joe Carr to light. —James A. Carr Grandson of Joe F. Carr 1100__222255__0011__ffrroonntt..iinndddd vvii 77//1122//1100 77::1144 AAMM Preface In 2002 while working for NFL Films, I pitched a project on the Nesser brothers—the group of six brothers who played for the Columbus (Ohio) Panhandles professional football team in the early 1900s. After my boss—Steve Sabol—approved the project, we found out that the Nesser family was holding their annual family reunion that fall at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. It was perfect timing. While at the reunion I was planning to interview family members who had intimate stories on the famous Nesser brothers that would appear in one of our shows. As I was preparing to shoot the reunion, I got an idea to invite a de- scendant from the Joe F. Carr family. Joe F. Carr had been the Panhandles long-time manager (1907–1922), and he had known the Nesser family for decades. Surely someone from the Carr family could talk about the Nessers. So I tracked down the family, who lived in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, to see if they could send a representative to talk about Carr. The family’s spokesperson was James Carr, grandson of the late Joe F. Carr, who agreed to attend. On September 14, 2002, well before the reunion started, I sat down with James Carr to talk about his grandfather. For nearly an hour James discussed his grandfather’s life and career with me, and I was totally fascinated. Being the head of the research library at NFL Films and part of the National Football League, I had heard the name Joe Carr and some of his accomplishments in starting the NFL. But after interviewing James I knew I wanted to know more about Joe’s life. I knew right then that I wanted to write about the career of Joe F. Carr and preserve the legacy of one of pro football’s most important pioneers. Also, the fact that Carr vii 1100__222255__0011__ffrroonntt..iinndddd vviiii 77//1122//1100 77::1144 AAMM viii Preface was born and had the NFL office in my hometown of Columbus made it a no-brainer for me to write the first-ever biography of him. The following spring while back in Columbus to visit my family I made an appointment to talk with James to see about writing a biography of his grandfather. He was more than willing to allow me to write the book, and he also agreed to help me with any interviews with the family or any research the family might have. I couldn’t have asked for a better situa- tion. The Carr family opened its doors and hearts to me. Over the past eight years, I’ve researched the life of Joe F. Carr and the early history of the NFL. It has been a great journey. Most people and football fans probably haven’t heard the name Joe F. Carr. But he was the Henry Ford of the NFL. He laid the groundwork and foundation on which the NFL now stands. I hope this book can capture the legacy of Joe F. Carr and give football fans and readers a glimpse into what Carr meant to professional football and the NFL. 1100__222255__0011__ffrroonntt..iinndddd vviiiiii 77//1122//1100 77::1144 AAMM Acknowledgments After spending nearly ten years researching the life of Joe F. Carr, I feel I don’t have enough words to thank all of the people who helped me in completing this book. First and foremost I want to thank the entire Carr family for their support and generosity. Without their help this book could never have been written. I especially want to thank the grandsons of Joe F. Carr who spent so much time answering my questions in person, by phone, or through numerous e-mails. I am extremely indebted to James Carr and his wife, Velda, for all their time and energy in helping me obtain the family material I needed to learn about James’s famous grandfather. James helped in lining up family interviews; allowing me to use his home for the interviews; making cop- ies of material; feeding a hungry researcher on occasion; and answering every question I had. In the end he made me feel like one of the family, and I am very grateful for all his help. Today I consider James a friend. Thanks also to his two children—Jennifer and Andy Carr. Through James I met Joe Carr’s other three grandsons. Thanks to the late Dennis Carr, who was always entertaining; Michael Carr, for giving me such passionate and honest answers during our interview; and Greg- ory Carr, for telling me all of his thoughtful stories about his grandfather. I also want to thank Gregory (and his wife, Karen) for allowing me to use the Joe F. Carr Scrapbook (which was on microfilm). You all went beyond the call of duty in helping me with my research, and I thank you. Extra thanks goes to Margaret Mooney, great-niece of Joe F. Carr, and her husband, Pat. Margaret’s knowledge and research of the Carr fam- ily tree (which included several trips to Ireland) gave me much needed ix 1100__222255__0011__ffrroonntt..iinndddd iixx 77//1122//1100 77::1144 AAMM