Pete Calac
Encyclopedia
Pedro "Pete" Calac was a professional football
player who played in the Ohio League
and during the early years of the National Football League
. Over the course of his 10 year career he played for the Canton Bulldogs
, Cleveland Indians
, Washington Senators
, Oorang Indians
and the Buffalo Bisons.
. Two of Pete's brothers had died of typhoid fever
and he had a brother and two sisters living in 1908. A Mission Indian, he was born on a reservation and attended grammar school in nearby Fallbrook, California
. While there, he was selected to attend the Carlisle Indian School.
on November 16, 1908 at the age of 15. He came to the school via the Union Pacific Railroad
with only a third-grade education. Calac left Carlisle in June 1911 and returned to California. He asked to return to Carlisle and was re-enrolled September 22, 1912. At the school, he excelled at football. In 1914 and 1915, he was captain of the football team. He was first elected as the team's captain in 1914 when the team's current captain, Elmer Busch, was forced to resign. Until attending the school, Calac had never played football before and had no knowledge of the game. Calac recalled in Robert W. Wheeler's book, Jim Thorpe: World's Greatest Athlete, that the other players took an interest in him because of his large size. It was then that Jim Thorpe
, who would later be recognied as being one of the Top Athletes of the 20th Century. Thorpe and Calac soon became friends and would later play professional football with the Canton Bulldogs and the Oorang Indians.
. He served with the 91st Division, known as the "Wild West Division," in France
and Belgium
during World War I
. He returned from the war without a wound. He later stated that "I guess I dug in too much". However in article by the Professional Football Researchers Association
, Calac was reported to have suffered career threatening wounds during the war but was back at the top of his game by 1922.
starring, Canton went 9-0-1, won the Ohio League
championship, and was acclaimed the pro football champion. The Bulldogs had a repeat of their 1916 season, by winning the 1917 Ohio League championship. Then in 1919 Thorpe and Calac were joined in the backfield by future Hall of Famer
Joe Guyon
and won their third Ohio League Championship.
weekend for the games against the Conshohocken Athletic Club
and the pre-NFL version of the Frankford Yellow Jackets
. The 1921 Quakers team won the Philadelphia City Championship.
, only three of the team's players would play in the NFL following the very next season. Those players were Benny Boynton, Guyon and Calac.
, a Airedale
terrier breeder, brought Thorpe and Calac, to his plantation in LaRue, Ohio to hunt for possum
. During that meeting Lingo decided to purchase a franchise in the National Football League. Called the Oorang Indians. The team was composed only of Native Americans and was mostly used as tool to for Lingo to promote his Airedales. The team was not considered to be very good, despite having two future Hall of Famers in the lineup. Lingo was more interested in selling his dogs instead of quality football. As a result, the Indians became more of a novelty act, known for their halftime shows instead of a football team. Calac played the team's halfback
for both years of the Indians existence.
, the team’s quarterback, for $50,000. The new owners changed the name of the team to Bisons, and committed themselves to signing big name players in an effort to improve performance both on the field and in attendance. As part of this big name spending spree, Calac was offered a contract to serve as the team's fullbck. The combination of Hughitt, Boynton, Eddie Kaw
, and Calac gave Buffalo the most potent offensive backfield in the league. In a 13-0 opening day victory over the Columbus Panhandles, managed by future NFL President Joe Carr, Calac was knocked out of the game with a broken nose.
While with the Bisons, the team had to travel to Philadelphia for a game against the Frankford Yellow Jackets
. Philadelphia, being a large metropolitan area, was unfamiliar territory for several of the rural players. That night several players including Calac and rookie Jim Ailinger
(best known as being the last surviving player from the NFL's early era) went out to a restaurant for dinner. According to Ailinger, he was unfamiliar with what to order in a restaurant, so he sat right next to Calac, who was a veteran player. The waiter asked Pete what he wanted and he said, "A lot of meat and a lot of potatoes."
. Afterwards he became a member of the police force. According to his obituary, Pete Calac passed on January 30, 1968.
, Dean of American Sportswriters, once wrote, "I believe an All-American, All-Indian Football team could beat the All-Time Notre Dame Team, the All-Time Michigan Team
, or the All-Time anything else. Take a look at a backfield like Jim Thorpe, Joe Guyon, Pete Calac and Frank Mount Pleasant
."
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...
and during the early years 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...
. Over the course of his 10 year career he played for 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...
, Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians (NFL)
The Cleveland Indians was a professional football team in the National Football League for the 1931 season. The 1931 team was a league-sponsored club that only played games on the road. The NFL intended to locate this team permanently in Cleveland...
, Washington Senators
Washington Senators (NFL)
Washington Senators, also referred to as the Washington Pros or Washington Presidents, was a professional football club from Washington, D.C.. The team played in the American Professional Football Association during the 1921 season, and continued to operate as a football club until 1941...
, Oorang Indians
Oorang Indians
The Oorang Indians were a traveling team in the National Football League from LaRue, Ohio . The team was named after the Oorang dog kennels. It was a novelty team put together by the kennels' owner, Walter Lingo, for marketing purposes. All of the players were Native American, with Jim Thorpe as...
and the Buffalo Bisons.
Early life
Calac was born on May 13, 1892 to Francisco and Felicidad Molino Calac of Valley Center, CaliforniaValley Center, California
Valley Center is a census-designated place in San Diego County, California. The population was 9,277 at the 2010 census, up from 7,323 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Valley Center is located at ....
. Two of Pete's brothers had died of typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
and he had a brother and two sisters living in 1908. A Mission Indian, he was born on a reservation and attended grammar school in nearby Fallbrook, California
Fallbrook, California
Fallbrook is an unincorporated community in northern San Diego County, California. The Fallbrook census-designated place population was 30,534 at the 2010 census, up from 29,100 at the 2000 census....
. While there, he was selected to attend the Carlisle Indian School.
Carlisle Indian School
Calac came to the Carlisle Indian School located across the country in Carlisle, PennsylvaniaCarlisle, Pennsylvania
Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...
on November 16, 1908 at the age of 15. He came to the school via the Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
with only a third-grade education. Calac left Carlisle in June 1911 and returned to California. He asked to return to Carlisle and was re-enrolled September 22, 1912. At the school, he excelled at football. In 1914 and 1915, he was captain of the football team. He was first elected as the team's captain in 1914 when the team's current captain, Elmer Busch, was forced to resign. Until attending the school, Calac had never played football before and had no knowledge of the game. Calac recalled in Robert W. Wheeler's book, Jim Thorpe: World's Greatest Athlete, that the other players took an interest in him because of his large size. It was then that Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
, who would later be recognied as being one of the Top Athletes of the 20th Century. Thorpe and Calac soon became friends and would later play professional football with the Canton Bulldogs and the Oorang Indians.
US Army
After attending West Virginia Wesleyan, Pete returned to California for a visit to family and tribe and enlisted in the ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. He served with the 91st Division, known as the "Wild West Division," in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He returned from the war without a wound. He later stated that "I guess I dug in too much". However in article by the Professional Football Researchers Association
Professional Football Researchers Association
The Professional Football Researchers Association is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by writer/historian Bob Carroll and six other football researchers and is...
, Calac was reported to have suffered career threatening wounds during the war but was back at the top of his game by 1922.
Canton Bulldogs
In 1916 with Calac and former Carlisle teammate 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...
starring, Canton went 9-0-1, won 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...
championship, and was acclaimed the pro football champion. The Bulldogs had a repeat of their 1916 season, by winning the 1917 Ohio League championship. Then in 1919 Thorpe and Calac were joined in the backfield by future Hall of Famer
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
Joe Guyon
Joe Guyon
Joseph Napoleon Guyon was a professional American football player in the National Football League...
and won their third Ohio League Championship.
Union Quakers
Calac and Guyon joined the backfield of the Union Quakers over the 1921 ThanksgivingThanksgiving (United States)
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...
weekend for the games against the Conshohocken Athletic Club
Conshohocken Athletic Club
The Conshohocken Athletic Club was a professional football team based in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania from 1914 until 1920, when the club's financial problems made it impossible to field a team. In the fall of 1921, the newly established Conshohocken Athletic Association took over sponsorship of the...
and the pre-NFL version of the Frankford Yellow Jackets
Frankford Yellow Jackets
The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, though its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets won the NFL championship in 1926...
. The 1921 Quakers team won the Philadelphia City Championship.
Washington Senators
The Washington Senators franchise spent only 1 season in the NFL. Once the team left the league at the end of the 1921 season1921 NFL season
The 1921 APFA season was the 2nd regular season of the National Football League, which was then called the American Professional Football Association....
, only three of the team's players would play in the NFL following the very next season. Those players were Benny Boynton, Guyon and Calac.
Oorang Indians
In the winter of 1921, Walter LingoWalter Lingo
Walter Lingo was a Airedale breeder from La Rue, Ohio. During the 1920s, he owned the Oorang Dog Kennels. As a way of promoting his kennels, Lingo financed a National Football League franchise, called the Oorang Indians in 1922.-Dog breeder:...
, a Airedale
Airedale
Airedale is a geographic area in Yorkshire, England, corresponding to the river valley of the River Aire . The valley stretches from the river's origin in Malham which is in the Yorkshire Dales, down past Keighley and Bingley, through Leeds and Castleford and on to join the Humber...
terrier breeder, brought Thorpe and Calac, to his plantation in LaRue, Ohio to hunt for possum
Possum
A possum is any of about 70 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi .Possums are quadrupedal diprotodont marsupials with long tails...
. During that meeting Lingo decided to purchase a franchise in the National Football League. Called the Oorang Indians. The team was composed only of Native Americans and was mostly used as tool to for Lingo to promote his Airedales. The team was not considered to be very good, despite having two future Hall of Famers in the lineup. Lingo was more interested in selling his dogs instead of quality football. As a result, the Indians became more of a novelty act, known for their halftime shows instead of a football team. Calac played the team's halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...
for both years of the Indians existence.
Buffalo Bisons
After the Indians folded in 1923. Calac was left in need of a team. He was scooped up by the Buffalo Bisons, who were previously known as the Buffalo All-Americans. The team was sold to a group led by local businessman Warren D. Patterson and Tommy HughittTommy Hughitt
Ernest Fredrick Hughitt , was a National Football League utility player and coach. He was also an All-American quarterback for the University of Michigan in 1913....
, the team’s quarterback, for $50,000. The new owners changed the name of the team to Bisons, and committed themselves to signing big name players in an effort to improve performance both on the field and in attendance. As part of this big name spending spree, Calac was offered a contract to serve as the team's fullbck. The combination of Hughitt, Boynton, Eddie Kaw
Eddie Kaw
Eddie Kaw was an American football player. He attended Cornell University and graduated in 1923. Kaw was elected into the Sphinx Head Society during his senior year....
, and Calac gave Buffalo the most potent offensive backfield in the league. In a 13-0 opening day victory over the Columbus Panhandles, managed by future NFL President Joe Carr, Calac was knocked out of the game with a broken nose.
While with the Bisons, the team had to travel to Philadelphia for a game against the Frankford Yellow Jackets
Frankford Yellow Jackets
The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, though its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets won the NFL championship in 1926...
. Philadelphia, being a large metropolitan area, was unfamiliar territory for several of the rural players. That night several players including Calac and rookie Jim Ailinger
Jim Ailinger
Dr. James Joseph Ailinger was an American football player for the Buffalo Bisons of the National Football League. Playing as a reserve on several positions on the offensive line for only one season, 1924, he was, at the time of his death, the oldest surviving NFL player .Ailinger was...
(best known as being the last surviving player from the NFL's early era) went out to a restaurant for dinner. According to Ailinger, he was unfamiliar with what to order in a restaurant, so he sat right next to Calac, who was a veteran player. The waiter asked Pete what he wanted and he said, "A lot of meat and a lot of potatoes."
Family
Pete and his wife were reported to have been married since 1924. They had a son, 2 daughters and 7 grandchildren. Their son, following in Pete's footsteps, played high school football in CantonCanton, 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...
. Afterwards he became a member of the police force. According to his obituary, Pete Calac passed on January 30, 1968.
Legacy
Grantland RiceGrantland Rice
Grantland Rice was an early 20th century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio.-Biography:...
, Dean of American Sportswriters, once wrote, "I believe an All-American, All-Indian Football team could beat the All-Time Notre Dame Team, the All-Time Michigan Team
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, or the All-Time anything else. Take a look at a backfield like Jim Thorpe, Joe Guyon, Pete Calac and Frank Mount Pleasant
Frank Mount Pleasant
Franklin P. Mount Pleasant was an American football player, track and field athlete, and college athletics coach in the United States. He played college football at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and at Dickinson College and competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics...
."