The Story And Significance Of Ernie Nevers - The Man Who Holds The Oldest NFL Record

Ernest Alonzo Nevers (June 11, 1902 – May 3, 1976), sometimes known by the nickname "Big Dog", was an American 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 football, basketball, baseball, and track and field for Stanford University from 1923 to 1925 and was a consensus first-team All-American in football in 1925. 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 subsequently 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 (PCL) in 1928 and 1929.

Nevers also had a long career as a football coach, including stints with Stanford (assistant, 1928, 1932–1935), the Chicago Cardinals (head coach, 1930–1931, 1939), Lafayette (head coach, 1936), Iowa (assistant, 1937–1938), and the Chicago Rockets (assistant, 1946).

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.

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.

Out of the 29 games played by the Eskimos in 1926, 14 are considered official by the NFL; in those games, Nevers scored 71 points on eight touchdowns, 11 extra points, and four field goals. At the end of his rookie season, Nevers was a consensus pick for the fullback position on the 1926 All-Pro Team, receiving first-team honors from Collyer's Eye magazine, the Chicago Tribune, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. In 1927 for the St. Louis Browns Nevers is often remembered for having given up two home runs to Babe Ruth during the 1927 season in which Ruth broke the major league record with 60 home runs.

In 1927, Nevers became head coach of the Eskimos in addition to his regular position at fullback. The 1927 Eskimos compiled a 1–8 record and finished in 11th place in the NFL. Highlights of Nevers 1927 season included the following: On October 23, 1927, Nevers completed 16 of 20 passes and threw four touchdown passes in a 27–0 victory over the Pottsville Maroons. On October 30, 1927, Nevers scored all 20 Duluth points on three touchdowns and two extra points in a 21–20 loss to the Cleveland Bulldogs. On November 13, 1927, Nevers ran 36 yards for a touchdown and kicked the extra point to account for Duluth's scoring in a 13–7 loss to the Providence Steam Roller. On December 11, 1927, Nevers threw two touchdown passes to Cobb Rooney and kicked two extra points to account for all 14 Duluth points in a 27–14 loss to the Chicago Bears. After the season, Nevers was again selected by the Green Bay Press-Gazette, based on the results of a questionnaires sent to the league managers and reporters, as the first-team fullback on the 1927 All-Pro Team.

In March 1928, Nevers announced that he would not return to professional football that fall, opting instead to serve as an assistant coach to Pop Warner at Stanford. Nevers said of professional football: "I hurt my back last year and don't care to take any more chances." He returned to Stanford in September 1928 as coach of the reserve football players.

In February 1929, Nevers resigned from his coaching job at Stanford to return to the Mission baseball club in the PCL. He appeared in 41 games during the 1929 season and compiled a 7–8 win-loss record.

In the fall of 1929, Nevers returned to the NFL to play fullback for the Chicago Cardinals. Highlights of Nevers' 1929 season include the following: On November 6, 1929, he led the Cardinals to a 16–0 victory over the Providence Steam Roller in the first night game in NFL history; in that game, Nevers threw a 45-yard touchdown pass, kicked a 23-yard field goal, and ran for another touchdown. On November 24, 1929, Nevers scored all 19 points (three touchdowns and an extra point) in the Cardinals' 19–0 victory over the Dayton Triangles, who were playing in their final game before moving to Brooklyn to embark on their long and erratic history through the league. Four days later on November 28, 1929, Nevers set an NFL record for points scored by a player in a single game. Nevers scored all 40 points in the Cardinals' 40–6 victory over the Chicago Bears; in that game, Nevers scored six rushing touchdowns, which remained an unshared NFL record until Alvin Kamara also accomplished the feat on Christmas Day, 2020 against the Minnesota Vikings. Nevers also kicked four extra points in the same game. On December 1, 1929, in a narrow loss to the New York Giants, Nevers threw a touchdown pass, intercepted a Benny Friedman pass and returned it to the Giants' one-yard line, rushed for a touchdown, and kicked an extra point. On December 8, 1929, Nevers passed for two touchdowns, ran for a touchdown, and kicked two extra points in a 26–0 victory over the Orange Tornadoes.

At the end of the 1929 season, Nevers was a consensus pick as the fullback on the 1929 All-Pro Team, receiving first-team honors from the Green Bay Press-Gazette, based on the return of 16 ballots sent to the team owners, managers, and sports writers of clubs in the NFL, Collyer's Eye magazine, and the Chicago Tribune.

In 1930, Nevers returned to the Cardinals as both head coach and fullback. At the end of the 1930 season, Nevers was again selected as the consensus first-team fullback on the 1930 All-Pro Team with Bronko Nagurski being picked for the second team at the position.

Nevers returned to the Cardinals as fullback and head coach in 1931. At the end of the 1931 season, Nevers was again selected (for the fifth time in five years in the NFL) as the fullback on the All-Pro Team, receiving first-team honors from the Green Bay Press-Gazette based on the returns of ballots sent to each club in the league as well as sports writers and officials, the United Press, and Collyer's Eye.

On January 25, 1932, Nevers broke his wrist on the final play of a charity football game in San Francisco. Afterward, Nevers announced his retirement as a player, stating that he was getting out while he was "still in one piece," and expressing a desire to pursue a career as a coach.

In March 1932, Nevers was hired as an assistant coach under Pop Warner at Stanford. His initial assignment was to coach the "goof squad". At the end of the 1932 season, Warner resigned as Stanford's head coach, but Nevers remained as an assistant coach under Tiny Maxwell through the 1935 season. During that time, Stanford won three consecutive Pacific Coast Conference championships and played in the 1934, 1935, and 1936 Rose Bowls.

In January 1936, Nevers resigned his position at Stanford to accept the head coaching job at Lafayette College. Nevers was welcomed to the Easton, Pennsylvania, campus with a parade and street celebration as classes were suspended for the day and Lafayette students anticipated the school's "return to 'Big Time' position" of previous years. The 1936 Lafayette team compiled a 1–8 record.

In March 1937, Nevers resigned his post at Lafayette upon being appointed backfield and ends coach for the University of Iowa under head coach Irl Tubbs. Tubbs had been Nevers' high school football coach in Superior, Wisconsin. Nevers coached at Iowa for two years during which time the team compiled records of 1–7 in 1937 and 1–6–1 in 1938.

In December 1938, after the Chicago Cardinals had compiled a 2–9 record during the 1938 season, Nevers was hired as the team's head coach. The 1939 Cardinals compiled a 1–10 record. In February 1940, Nevers resigned from the Cardinals, saying he wished to reside permanently in San Francisco.

He was inducted into the inaugural Pro Football Hall of Fame class in 1963.