Rube Ursella

Reuben John (“Rube” or “Ruby”) Ursella (January 11, 1890 – February 1, 1980) was a professional

During World War I, Ursella served in the 604th Engineering Regiment and he played football for the unit's service team in France.[2]

When he returned home, Ursella chose to coach and play for Rock Island and he led the team to a self-proclaimed national championship in 1919. He stayed to coach and play again in 1920 when the Independents joined the American Professional Football Association, later renamed the National Football League.^[3]

In 1921, Ursella returned to the Marines to play during the team's inaugural season in the

During his 22 seasons as a quarterback, captain, and coach, Reuben Ursella stood out as a strategist, field general, and dominating athlete despite the fact he never played high school or college football.[6] Before the Minneapolis Marines turned professional in 1913, many colleges sought out his services but Ursella could not afford to attend university.^[7]

Coach and Captain

Ursella was the mastermind behind successful Minneapolis Marines, Rock Island Independents, and Hibbing All-Stars offenses, and on all three teams, he installed his version of the

Across seven seasons, with Ursella at the helm, from 1911 to 1917, the Marines would use the Minnesota Shift to outscore opponents 1,539 to 156, nearly a 10:1 ratio. Ursella then used the Minnesota Shift with the Rock Island Independents in 1919 to outscore opponents 309–12, a 25:1 ratio.[10]

On the field, Ursella was "the guiding spirit of the [Minneapolis] Marines offense," observed the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The Hibbing Daily News, impressed by Ursella’s performance, said Ursella “ran the team brilliantly” and "is in a class by himself as a quarterback."^[11]

Quarterback

As an athlete, Ursella stood out for his kicking ability, in punting, drop-kicking, and place-kicking, and he once made a 54-yard drop-kick field goal in 1913. Ossie Solem, who had played for the Gophers under Williams and then later coached the Marines and at Luther College (Iowa), Drake University, Syracuse University, and Springfield College, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 1960 that Ursella was “the best kicker football has ever had,"^[12] an echo of the sentiment shared by Halsey Hall in the Minneapolis Star in 1954 when he said Ursella was “the greatest kicker of local and possibly national history."^[13] Ursella’s former teammate and manager, John Dunn, who served as NFL vice president from 1922–1928, in later years told the Minneapolis Star that he felt Ursella and Paddy Driscoll were the best professional players he had ever seen play, and that “Rube was the better all-around player, could do more.”^[14] Ursella often ran with the ball around the ends, and he returned kicks. In 1925, the News-Record in Neenah, Wisconsin, observed that Ursella "has all the qualities of an ideal football player, brains, speed, and is a fighter to the last whistle.”^[15][16]

Ursella was the leading scorer for the 1912, 1913, and 1917 Marines and for the 1919 Rock Island Independents. He scored at least 101 points on 12 touchdowns, either through the air or on the ground, plus five field goals and 14 extra points with the Minneapolis Marines in 1913. In 1919, he scored at least 106 points on 11 touchdowns, four field goal attempts, and 28 extra points. On defense, he played safety and stopped wayward opposing runners from reaching the end zone.^[17]

Professional Baseball

Reuben Ursella pitched for the