Homer Davidson
Encyclopedia
Homer Hurd Davidson was a professional Major League Baseball
player for the Cleveland Naps (later renamed the Cleveland Indians
in 1914). Born in Cleveland, Ohio
, he played only 6 games for the Naps during the 1908 season
. Davidson was better known as a professional football
player. He played in the Ohio League
, which was the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League
. One veteran Ohio
sportswriter once rated Davidson to be the equal of Walter Eckersall
, a infamous quarterback
from the University of Chicago
. He attended college at the University of Pennsylvania
and played on the Penn Quakers
baseball team.
and kicker
for the Shelby Blues
. Davidson was considered the greatest professional kicker of his era. He continued to play for the Blues the next season in 1906. However he was signed to play for Massillon Tigers
in the Ohio League championship against the Canton Bulldogs
in a two-game series. Massillon would go on to lose the first game of the series, 10–5, but won the second game by a score of 13–6 and clinched the 1906 league championship. However rumors of a betting fix tainted the championship
. After the series, Davidson returned Shelby and played there in 1907. He chose to sit out the 1908 season because he was under contract to Cleveland Naps and did not want to risk injury.
, the team's new player-coach
. Homer would go onto win many games for Parratt with his punt
s and field goal
s. While there are some slight indications that Davidson and Parratt disliked each other, Davidson usually played for him anyway.
In 1910 he was recruited to play for the Shelby Tigers
, where he became the team's star attraction. In 1911, the Davidson's Shelby Tigers and Parratt's Shelby Blues merged and took the "Blues" name. That season the Blues defeated the Akron Indians, 3–0, on a Davidson field goal. Due to their outstanding play Davidson and Parratt were often targeted by opposing teams on the field. In 1911, the Canton Professionals (later renamed the Canton Bulldogs) fans greeted the Blues with large signs reading "Get Parratt!" and "Get Davidson!" The team had heard rumors that the Canton Professionals had hired two professional boxers to hurt Shelby's star player. While no boxers showed up in uniform for the Professionals that game, the first half of the game resulted in several fist fights. Davidson and the Blues would go on to win the 1911 Ohio League title.
. It was rumored throughout Canton, Ohio
that Elyria was being secretly managed by Paeggy Parratt, who was now the player-coach of and the Akron Indians. The conspiracy theory stated that Davidson and Parratt were going to merge their teams when it came time to play Canton. However only two Elyria players were in the Akron line-up when the two team met that season. Davidson suffered a shoulder injury that practically ended his season during a 14-0 win over Parratt and the Indians a week later. Ed Kagy
then took over as the team's quarterback. However Davidson still played as the team's kicker, since only his shoulder was injured. Davidson's kick helped the Athletics defeat the Akron Indians 10–0 and win the 1912 Ohio League title.
Homer returned to the Athletics in 1913. On October 5, the team defeated Parratt's Akron Indians 16–14 on a drop-kicked, 20-yard field goal by Davidson in the final five minutes of the game. However two weeks later Parratt defeated Elyria and Davidson, 20–0. Soon afterwards the Elyria team folded. A week later Davidson and several other ex-Athletics players were in the line-up for the newly formed Coleman Athletic Club
. The team defeated Canton, 26–0 in its first game. However the team lost the rematch 7–6, in a controversial call by the referee
, named "Schleininger", who claimed that Davidson missed a 28-yard field goal that would have given Coleman a 9–6 victory. Davidson disagreed violently with the referee, who just happened to be a Canton resident.
from the Fort Wayne Friars
.
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
player for the Cleveland Naps (later renamed the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
in 1914). Born in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, he played only 6 games for the Naps during the 1908 season
1908 Cleveland Naps season
The 1908 Cleveland Naps season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the American League with a record of 90-64, just one-half game behind the Detroit Tigers. The Naps finished with the same number of wins as the Tigers, but one additional loss...
. Davidson was better known as a professional football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player. He played in the Ohio League
Ohio League
The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1903 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship . As the name implied, its teams were based in Ohio...
, which was the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. One veteran Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
sportswriter once rated Davidson to be the equal of Walter Eckersall
Walter Eckersall
Walter "Eckie" Eckersall was an American football player, official, and sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.-Early life:...
, a infamous quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. He attended college at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and played on the Penn Quakers
Penn Quakers
The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 27 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing.-Men's crew:-Football:...
baseball team.
1905–1908
Davidson began his professional football career in 1905, as the quarterbackQuarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
and kicker
Placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...
for the Shelby Blues
Shelby Blues
The Shelby Blues were an American football team based in Shelby, Ohio. The team played in the Ohio League from 1900 to 1919. In 1920, when the Ohio League became the APFA , the Blues did not join but continued to play against APFA teams, only to later suspend operations...
. Davidson was considered the greatest professional kicker of his era. He continued to play for the Blues the next season in 1906. However he was signed to play for Massillon Tigers
Massillon Tigers
The Massillon Tigers were an early professional football team from Massillon, Ohio. Playing in the "Ohio League", the team was a rival to the pre-National Football League version of the Canton Bulldogs. The Tigers won Ohio League championships in 1903, 1904, 1905, and 1906, then merged to become...
in the Ohio League championship against the Canton Bulldogs
Canton Bulldogs
The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and its successor, the National Football League, from 1920 to 1923 and again from 1925 to 1926. The Bulldogs would go on to win the 1917, 1918...
in a two-game series. Massillon would go on to lose the first game of the series, 10–5, but won the second game by a score of 13–6 and clinched the 1906 league championship. However rumors of a betting fix tainted the championship
Canton Bulldogs-Massillon Tigers Betting Scandal
The Canton Bulldogs–Massillon Tigers betting scandal was the first major scandal in professional football in the United States. It refers to a series of allegations made by a Massillon newspaper charging the Canton Bulldogs coach, Blondy Wallace, and Massillon Tigers end, Walter East, of conspiring...
. After the series, Davidson returned Shelby and played there in 1907. He chose to sit out the 1908 season because he was under contract to Cleveland Naps and did not want to risk injury.
1909–1911
Davidson returned to the Shelby Blues in 1909 and played in the league alongside, Peggy ParrattPeggy Parratt
George Watson "Peggy" Parratt was a professional football player who played in the "Ohio League" prior to it becoming a part of the National Football League...
, the team's new player-coach
Player-coach
A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....
. Homer would go onto win many games for Parratt with his punt
Punt (football)
In some codes of football, a punt is a play in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it touches the ground. A punt is in contrast to a drop kick, in which the ball touches the ground before being kicked....
s and field goal
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
s. While there are some slight indications that Davidson and Parratt disliked each other, Davidson usually played for him anyway.
In 1910 he was recruited to play for the Shelby Tigers
Shelby Tigers
The Shelby Tigers was a professional American football team, based in Shelby, Ohio, from 1910 until 1911. The team played in the Ohio League, which was the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League.-1910 season:...
, where he became the team's star attraction. In 1911, the Davidson's Shelby Tigers and Parratt's Shelby Blues merged and took the "Blues" name. That season the Blues defeated the Akron Indians, 3–0, on a Davidson field goal. Due to their outstanding play Davidson and Parratt were often targeted by opposing teams on the field. In 1911, the Canton Professionals (later renamed the Canton Bulldogs) fans greeted the Blues with large signs reading "Get Parratt!" and "Get Davidson!" The team had heard rumors that the Canton Professionals had hired two professional boxers to hurt Shelby's star player. While no boxers showed up in uniform for the Professionals that game, the first half of the game resulted in several fist fights. Davidson and the Blues would go on to win the 1911 Ohio League title.
1912–1913
The 1912 season saw Davidson as the player-coach of the Elyria AthleticsElyria Athletics
The Elyria Athletics were an American football team based in Elyria, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League until 1919, then became an independent team...
. It was rumored throughout Canton, Ohio
Canton, Ohio
Canton is the county seat of Stark County in northeastern Ohio, approximately south of Akron and south of Cleveland.The City of Caton is the largest incorporated area within the Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area...
that Elyria was being secretly managed by Paeggy Parratt, who was now the player-coach of and the Akron Indians. The conspiracy theory stated that Davidson and Parratt were going to merge their teams when it came time to play Canton. However only two Elyria players were in the Akron line-up when the two team met that season. Davidson suffered a shoulder injury that practically ended his season during a 14-0 win over Parratt and the Indians a week later. Ed Kagy
Ed Kagy
Edmund Kagy was a professional American football player in the Ohio League, which was the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League, from 1912 until 1915. During that time he played with the Shelby Blues, Elyria Athletics, Akron Indians and the Massillon Tigers. He won championships...
then took over as the team's quarterback. However Davidson still played as the team's kicker, since only his shoulder was injured. Davidson's kick helped the Athletics defeat the Akron Indians 10–0 and win the 1912 Ohio League title.
Homer returned to the Athletics in 1913. On October 5, the team defeated Parratt's Akron Indians 16–14 on a drop-kicked, 20-yard field goal by Davidson in the final five minutes of the game. However two weeks later Parratt defeated Elyria and Davidson, 20–0. Soon afterwards the Elyria team folded. A week later Davidson and several other ex-Athletics players were in the line-up for the newly formed Coleman Athletic Club
Coleman Athletic Club
The Coleman Athletic Club of Akron was professional American football team based in Akron, Ohio. The team played in the Ohio League in 1913. The team was formed when C.P. Parker, secretary of the baseball's Akron Giants of the Interstate League formed a new Akron football team to compete with...
. The team defeated Canton, 26–0 in its first game. However the team lost the rematch 7–6, in a controversial call by the referee
Official (American football)
In American football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game.During professional and college football games, seven officials operate on the field...
, named "Schleininger", who claimed that Davidson missed a 28-yard field goal that would have given Coleman a 9–6 victory. Davidson disagreed violently with the referee, who just happened to be a Canton resident.
1914–1915
In 1914 Davidson rejoined Parratt and played for the Akron Indians. He won another Ohio league title when the Indians defeated Canton, 20–1. The next season saw Davidson sign with the Massillon Tigers. He started the first few games at quarterback until Massillon hired Gus DoraisGus Dorais
Charles Emile "Gus" Dorais was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He played college football as a quarterback at the University of Notre Dame, where he was an All-American in 1913, and then professionally with the Fort Wayne Friars and Massillon Tigers...
from the Fort Wayne Friars
Fort Wayne Friars
The Fort Wayne Friars were an early professional football team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The team, which was also known as the Friars Athletic Association, consistently fielded good and noteworthy teams...
.