Peggy Parratt
Encyclopedia
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
. Born in Cleveland, Ohio
, Parratt played for quarterback
for the Shelby Blues
, Lorain Pros, Massillon Tigers
, Massillon All-Stars
, Franklin Athletic Club of Cleveland
, Akron Indians and the Cleveland Tigers between 1905 and 1916.
at Case Western University. During his time at Case, he became a 3-time All-Ohio college star. However in 1905 he risked his amateur standing by playing professional ball on Sundays for the Shelby Blues
. To hide his identity from the media and school officials, Parratt played under the name "Jimmy Murphy" and used a nose guard to conceal his face. However just weeks after his first game for Shelby, the Cleveland newspapers revealed that Murphy was really Peggy Parratt, in disguise. Soon afterwards Parratt was called in for questioning by the chairman of the Case University Athletic Board, Professor Arthur S. Wright. During the interview Parratt openly admitted to breaking the amateur code. He was then barred from all further intercollegiate play at Case. At the time, Parratt was also a star basketball
and baseball player for Case and was removed from those teams as well.
By admitting openly to playing for Shelby, Parratt thus became the first college football star to be disciplined by his school for moonlighting as a professional football player. Several other college players had secretly played pro football, but they always denied the charges when questioned. However Case did award Peggy his varsity letter anyway, citing his invaluable leadership on and off the field during the major part of the 1905 football season. He also made All-Ohio Honors for 1905 and was allowed to coach the college's baseball team, after being stripped of captaincy due to the scandal. After graduating from Case in 1906, Parratt was offered the head football coaching job at Marietta College
, however he turned it down and continued his professional career. In 1909, however, Peggy was an assistant football coach at Case, while he was playing for the Shelby Blues.
. He immediately earned the role of starting quarterback. The first forward pass in a professional football game may have been thrown by Parratt on October 25, 1906 to Dan "Bullet" Riley in a victory over a combined Benwood-Moundsville team, according to Robert W. Peterson in his book Pigskin The Early Years of Pro Football. Parratt though did not receive initial recognition for the pass since Eddie Wood
of the Canton Bulldogs
and Latrobe Athletic Association
was erroneously credited for catching the first forward pass
in pro football by Harry March
in his book Pro Football: Its Ups and Downs
. During the second game of the 1906 Ohio League
championship, which would later result in a betting scandal on November 24, 1906, Wood reportedly caught a couple of the new forward passes. March somehow stated that those catches in a championship game, at the end of the season, were very first catches in professional football. It was later discovered that Parratt threw an earlier recorded pass to Bullet Riley on October 25, for professional football's first forward pass. A second recorded pass was thrown to Clark Schrontz
two days later.
During the Tigers season ending series with the Canton Bulldogs
, to determine the Ohio League champions, Parratt caught two interceptions while the Tigers won the series second, and deciding game. However rumors of a betting fix tainted the championship
and turned the public off to pro football in Ohio for the next several years. Many of the top players of the day left Ohio when the scandal broke. This left only the local sandlotters to pick up the pieces and try to patch together a respectable season for 1907. Since Parratt was not apart of the scandal, he continued to play for Massillon, now renamed the "Massillon All-Stars" for 1907, however he soon learned that he could make more money playing with the Franklin Athletic Club, which was untouched by the fallout over the betting scandal the year before.
for the Blues and helped the team recruit players. In his first year with the Blues, the team defeated all of their rivals and finished in a tie with the Akron Indians for state honors. However in 1909, the Indians defeated the Blues 13-9 and claimed the championship.
For the 1910 season, Parratt decided to recruit heavily to put together a contender in Shelby. As a result, Peggy signed several well-known Ohio college graduates and combined them with the best local veterans he could find. The plan worked and Shelby upset the Indians twice, 16-6 and 8-5, and the Blues claimed the 1910 Ohio title.
was so upset that he called his team off the field and refused to continue the game. Immediately after the game, Turner vowed to give up football because of the call. However Turner wanted so badly to beat Parratt that he returned to play for Canton for the next three years.
, who then took the Ohio championship. The Athletics were mostly former Blues players who formed a team in Elyria after Parratt left for Akron.
The following season, Peggy brought most of Elyria's 1912 championship team to Akron, and adding them to his roster. The Indians then beat Shelby and Elyria. They also managed to tie the rapidly improving Canton Pros. During Indians championship game against Shelby, the Blues loaded their team with a collection of famous players from big Eastern schools and supported each member with a payroll of $700 for just that one game. However a the game cancelled due to snowstorm. A week later when the Blues returned to Akron, the Indians were prepared with newly recruited talent that was viewed as even superior to that of Shelbys. The Indians won the game 20-0 and brought the Ohio title back to Akron.
stars, including the legendary Knute Rockne
, Howard "Horse" Edwards, "Deke" Jones, and Joe Collins
. As well as several Ohio collegiate stars like Ed Kagy
, Dwight Wertz, Homer Davidson
, Dutch Powell, Frank Nesser
and Ralph "Fat" Waldsmith
. By late season, the entire left side of his Akron Indian line was from Notre Dame. The team dominated the Ohio League for the season, however they managed to lose to Canton 6-0 on November 15, 1914. That game was memorable not because of Canton's win, but because Harry Turner, who had fostered a need to beat Parratt at football, died when his spine broke during a tackle on Akron's fullback, Joe Collins. Turner's death marked the first fatal accident involving a major professional football team in Ohio. According to Canton manager Jack Cusack
, Turner on his deathbed whispered, "I know I must go, but I'm satisfied, for we beat Peggy Parratt!" A week later Akron defeated a mourning Canton team 21-0 to claim the 1914 title.
, to his renamed Canton Bulldogs team. By the end of the season, Parratt's team was made up mostly of Akron sandlotters.
After the disastrous 1915 season, Parratt returned to Cleveland, where he took some of his former Akron players and a few ex-collegians into a respectable team which he named the Cleveland Tigers. The 1916 Indians compiled a winning record despite falling to the Bulldogs and splitting a two game series with the Columbus Panhandles. Parratt played his last professional football game on October 22, 1916, as his Indians lost to Columbus 9-6.
that saw the birth of the National Football League. However he reappeared on football scene on August 1, 1925, in Chicago
, representing Cleveland Tigers owner Samuel Deutsch
. A few months later on February 6, 1926, Parratt was appointed to two of the NFL's most important committees. The first committee consisted of a seven-member panel that charged with redrafting the NFL constitution and by-laws. The second committee was a three-man committee to meet with the Intercollegiate Committee of Athletics (ICA) in New York City
. The other two members of this panel were George Halas
and Dr. Harry March
.
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 who 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...
" prior to it becoming a part of the 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...
. 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...
, Parratt played for 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...
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...
, Lorain Pros, 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...
, Massillon All-Stars
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...
, Franklin Athletic Club of Cleveland
Franklin Athletic Club of Cleveland
The Franklin Athletic Club of Cleveland was a short-lived professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio from 1903 until around 1909. Franklin played against in "Ohio League" against the early Canton Bulldogs, Shelby Blues and Massillon Tigers...
, Akron Indians and the Cleveland Tigers between 1905 and 1916.
College career
Parratt played college footballCollege football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at Case Western University. During his time at Case, he became a 3-time All-Ohio college star. However in 1905 he risked his amateur standing by playing professional ball on Sundays 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...
. To hide his identity from the media and school officials, Parratt played under the name "Jimmy Murphy" and used a nose guard to conceal his face. However just weeks after his first game for Shelby, the Cleveland newspapers revealed that Murphy was really Peggy Parratt, in disguise. Soon afterwards Parratt was called in for questioning by the chairman of the Case University Athletic Board, Professor Arthur S. Wright. During the interview Parratt openly admitted to breaking the amateur code. He was then barred from all further intercollegiate play at Case. At the time, Parratt was also a star basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and baseball player for Case and was removed from those teams as well.
By admitting openly to playing for Shelby, Parratt thus became the first college football star to be disciplined by his school for moonlighting as a professional football player. Several other college players had secretly played pro football, but they always denied the charges when questioned. However Case did award Peggy his varsity letter anyway, citing his invaluable leadership on and off the field during the major part of the 1905 football season. He also made All-Ohio Honors for 1905 and was allowed to coach the college's baseball team, after being stripped of captaincy due to the scandal. After graduating from Case in 1906, Parratt was offered the head football coaching job at Marietta College
Marietta College
Marietta College is a co-educational private college in Marietta, Ohio, USA, which was the first permanent settlement of the Northwest Territory. The school offers 42 majors along with a large number of minors, all of which are grounded in a strong liberal arts foundation...
, however he turned it down and continued his professional career. In 1909, however, Peggy was an assistant football coach at Case, while he was playing for the Shelby Blues.
Massillon Tigers
After losing his amateur stats, Parratt played football for the Lorain Pros for the remainder of the 1905 season. In 1906, Peggy was signed by the Massillon Tigers, in part because of his mastery of the forward passForward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
. He immediately earned the role of starting quarterback. The first forward pass in a professional football game may have been thrown by Parratt on October 25, 1906 to Dan "Bullet" Riley in a victory over a combined Benwood-Moundsville team, according to Robert W. Peterson in his book Pigskin The Early Years of Pro Football. Parratt though did not receive initial recognition for the pass since Eddie Wood
Eddie Wood
Edward Wood was an early professional football player for the Latrobe Athletic Association, the Franklin Athletic Club and finally for the Canton Bulldogs of the "Ohio League"...
of 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...
and Latrobe Athletic Association
Latrobe Athletic Association
The Latrobe Athletic Association was a professional football team located in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, from 1895 until 1909. The team is best known for being the first football club to play a full season while composed entirely of professional players...
was erroneously credited for catching the first forward pass
Forward pass
In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...
in pro football by Harry March
Harry March
Harry Addison March was an early football historian and promoter, as well as a medical doctor. He also helped organize the National Football League and well as the second American Football League. March is also credited with convincing Tim Mara to purchase an NFL franchise for New York City, which...
in his book Pro Football: Its Ups and Downs
Pro Football: Its Ups and Downs
Pro Football: Its Ups and Downs, published in 1934, is a novel by Dr. Harry March that was the first ever attempt to write a history of professional American football. March had served in several executive offices with the New York Giants of the National Football League in the late 1920s and was a...
. During the second game of the 1906 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...
championship, which would later result in a betting scandal on November 24, 1906, Wood reportedly caught a couple of the new forward passes. March somehow stated that those catches in a championship game, at the end of the season, were very first catches in professional football. It was later discovered that Parratt threw an earlier recorded pass to Bullet Riley on October 25, for professional football's first forward pass. A second recorded pass was thrown to Clark Schrontz
Clark Schrontz
Clark A. Schrontz was a professional American football player. In 1902 he won a championship in the first National Football League with the Pittsburgh Stars. A year later he was a member of the Franklin Athletic Club football team that was considered the "best in the world"...
two days later.
During the Tigers season ending series with 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...
, to determine the Ohio League champions, Parratt caught two interceptions while the Tigers won the series second, and deciding game. 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...
and turned the public off to pro football in Ohio for the next several years. Many of the top players of the day left Ohio when the scandal broke. This left only the local sandlotters to pick up the pieces and try to patch together a respectable season for 1907. Since Parratt was not apart of the scandal, he continued to play for Massillon, now renamed the "Massillon All-Stars" for 1907, however he soon learned that he could make more money playing with the Franklin Athletic Club, which was untouched by the fallout over the betting scandal the year before.
Franklin Athletic Club
During his year with the Franklin A.C., Parratt played in only a few games. He spent the majority of his time, officiating professional football games in the Cleveland-area.Return to Shelby
Sometime before the 1908 season, Parratt returned to Shelby Blues, the place where he made his professional debut in 1905. He became the owner of the franchise by helping to organize and financially back the team. He also became a player-coachPlayer-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....
for the Blues and helped the team recruit players. In his first year with the Blues, the team defeated all of their rivals and finished in a tie with the Akron Indians for state honors. However in 1909, the Indians defeated the Blues 13-9 and claimed the championship.
For the 1910 season, Parratt decided to recruit heavily to put together a contender in Shelby. As a result, Peggy signed several well-known Ohio college graduates and combined them with the best local veterans he could find. The plan worked and Shelby upset the Indians twice, 16-6 and 8-5, and the Blues claimed the 1910 Ohio title.
1911 Ohio League title forfeit
Parratt used the same plan for the upcoming 1911 season and once again the Shelby defeated Akron twice, 6-0 and 3-0. The 1911 title game was then to be between the Blues and the revived Canton Bulldogs, then referred to as the Canton Professionals. The Blues won the game when Canton forfeited the title game to Shelby, after a heated dispute over an offside ruling. According to reports, Parratt was willing to compromise with Canton over the official's call, however Canton captain Harry TurnerHarry Turner (American football)
Harry Turner was a professional football player. He was one of the most popular players on the Canton Professionals, the pre-National Football League version of the Canton Bulldogs who played in the Ohio League...
was so upset that he called his team off the field and refused to continue the game. Immediately after the game, Turner vowed to give up football because of the call. However Turner wanted so badly to beat Parratt that he returned to play for Canton for the next three years.
Akron Indians
Before the 1912 season, Parratt left Shelby for Akron. He took the move realizing that he could make more money in the larger football market that Akron could provide. When he arrived in Akron, his first move was to change the team name from the "Akron" Indians to "Parratt's" Indians. With Peggy as player, coach, and owner-manager, the Indians split their series with Shelby and twice defeated Canton, 14-7 and 19-7. However they were defeated by the unheard of 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...
, who then took the Ohio championship. The Athletics were mostly former Blues players who formed a team in Elyria after Parratt left for Akron.
The following season, Peggy brought most of Elyria's 1912 championship team to Akron, and adding them to his roster. The Indians then beat Shelby and Elyria. They also managed to tie the rapidly improving Canton Pros. During Indians championship game against Shelby, the Blues loaded their team with a collection of famous players from big Eastern schools and supported each member with a payroll of $700 for just that one game. However a the game cancelled due to snowstorm. A week later when the Blues returned to Akron, the Indians were prepared with newly recruited talent that was viewed as even superior to that of Shelbys. The Indians won the game 20-0 and brought the Ohio title back to Akron.
The death of Harry Turner
For his 1914 recruiting efforts, Parratt signed the usual big names players, which consisted of a lineup that changed from week to week, with just enough stars on hand to guarantee a win. However in 1914, he also employed several former Notre DameUniversity of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
stars, including the legendary Knute Rockne
Knute Rockne
Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history...
, Howard "Horse" Edwards, "Deke" Jones, and Joe Collins
Joe Collins (American football)
Joseph Collins was an American football player for the University of Notre Dame in 1908 and 1909. During his time at Notre Dame, Collins discovered and recommended Knute Rockne to the football team's coach, Frank Longman....
. As well as several Ohio collegiate stars like 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...
, Dwight Wertz, Homer Davidson
Homer Davidson
Homer Hurd Davidson was a professional Major League Baseball player for the Cleveland Naps . 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...
, Dutch Powell, Frank Nesser
Frank Nesser
Frank Nesser was a professional football player in the "Ohio League" and the early National Football League. During his career he played mainly for the Columbus Panhandles, however he did also play for a little for the Akron Indians, whenever he was recruited by Indians manager, Peggy Parratt.Frank...
and Ralph "Fat" Waldsmith
Ralph Waldsmith
Ralph George "Fat" Waldsmith was a professional football player during the early years of the National Football League. Waldsmith won an NFL championship with the Canton Bulldogs in 1922...
. By late season, the entire left side of his Akron Indian line was from Notre Dame. The team dominated the Ohio League for the season, however they managed to lose to Canton 6-0 on November 15, 1914. That game was memorable not because of Canton's win, but because Harry Turner, who had fostered a need to beat Parratt at football, died when his spine broke during a tackle on Akron's fullback, Joe Collins. Turner's death marked the first fatal accident involving a major professional football team in Ohio. According to Canton manager Jack Cusack
Jack Cusack
Jack Cusack was one of the prominent early figures in professional football in Ohio. At the age of twenty-one, Cusack became the manager and owner of the Canton Bulldogs, one of the leading teams of the day...
, Turner on his deathbed whispered, "I know I must go, but I'm satisfied, for we beat Peggy Parratt!" A week later Akron defeated a mourning Canton team 21-0 to claim the 1914 title.
Cleveland Tigers
To avoid an Akron title in 1915 the owners of the Massillon Tigers raided Parratt's Akron roster and took away many of his star players. Canton manager, Jack Cusack, also picked up some former Akron players and, signed Jim ThorpeJim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
, to his renamed Canton Bulldogs team. By the end of the season, Parratt's team was made up mostly of Akron sandlotters.
After the disastrous 1915 season, Parratt returned to Cleveland, where he took some of his former Akron players and a few ex-collegians into a respectable team which he named the Cleveland Tigers. The 1916 Indians compiled a winning record despite falling to the Bulldogs and splitting a two game series with the Columbus Panhandles. Parratt played his last professional football game on October 22, 1916, as his Indians lost to Columbus 9-6.
Formation of the NFL
After his retirement from football, Parratt's name was always brought up when anyone tried to establish a concrete football league. Peggy was not part of the 1920 meetings set by Ralph HayRalph Hay
Ralph E. Hay was the owner of the Canton Bulldogs from 1918 until 1923. However he is mostly recognized for organizing the first meeting of teams that would later former the American Professional Football Association, later called the National Football League....
that saw the birth of the National Football League. However he reappeared on football scene on August 1, 1925, in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, representing Cleveland Tigers owner Samuel Deutsch
Samuel Deutsch
Samuel H. Deutsch was a prominent sports franchise owner and jeweler. He is best known as being the owner of the National Football League's Cleveland Indians, formerly the Cleveland Tigers, in 1923 of the as well as for moving the Canton Bulldogs to Cleveland from Canton and renaming the team the...
. A few months later on February 6, 1926, Parratt was appointed to two of the NFL's most important committees. The first committee consisted of a seven-member panel that charged with redrafting the NFL constitution and by-laws. The second committee was a three-man committee to meet with the Intercollegiate Committee of Athletics (ICA) in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The other two members of this panel were George Halas
George Halas
George Stanley Halas, Sr. , nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was a player, coach, owner and pioneer in professional American football. He was the iconic longtime leader of the NFL's Chicago Bears...
and Dr. Harry March
Harry March
Harry Addison March was an early football historian and promoter, as well as a medical doctor. He also helped organize the National Football League and well as the second American Football League. March is also credited with convincing Tim Mara to purchase an NFL franchise for New York City, which...
.