Ted Nesser

Ted Nesser
Date of birth	April 5, 1883
Place of birth	Akron Indians
1914	Canton Professionals
1907–1921	Columbus Panhandles
Career stats
	Playing stats at DatabaseFootball.com; Coaching stats at Pro Football Reference;

Theodore Nesser Jr. (April 5, 1883 – June 7, 1941) was a professional

Akron Indians, Canton Bulldogs and Shelby Blues

.

He was also a member of the

Nesser Brothers

, a group consisting of seven brothers who made-up the most famous football family in the United States from 1907 until the mid-1920s. Ted was the first Nesser to make money at football, playing for Massillon's state championship teams in 1904, 1905 and 1906.

Ted was considered the toughest of the Nesser brothers. In 1906, he reputedly ended the career of Willie Heston, a former Michigan All-American, with a hard tackle in a Massillon Tigers-Canton Bulldogs game. In 1908, Ted reputedly stayed for a game with two broken bones protruding from an arm, just because he thought that his brothers needed him. Nesser was also reported to have had broken his nose at least eight times.

He was also considered a football genius and is credited with originating several plays including the triple pass, the criss-cross and the short kickoff. These plays became popular in the college game of that day.

None of the Nesser brothers attended college. However, in 1909,

Texas, offered to pay Ted for his help. Even though Ted had never finished high school, he wore a freshman beanie on campus and suited up for the game. The Aggies never trailed, so Ted never got in, but Moran paid him $200 afterward for his trouble.^[1]

Ted's son Charlie also played briefly for the Panhandles in 1921.^[2] This is marked as the only father-son combination to play together in NFL history.

In 2015, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Nesser to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2015.^[3]

References

Peterson, Robert W. (1997). Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football.
ISBN 0-19-511913-4
.

PFRA Research. "The Tigers Pounce Again: 1904" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-26.
PFRA Research. "Let's Play Two!: 1913" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-26.
PFRA Research. "Parratt Stays on Top 1914" (PDF). Coffin Corner. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-26.

Notes

^ http://www.daytontriangles.com/nessers.htm%7C Forgotten NFL Family
^ https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/11/sports/the-draft-fassel-s-son-a-draft-prospect.html%7C Fassel's Son a Draft Prospect, New York Times, 4/11/99
^ "Professional Researchers Association Hall of Very Good Class of 2015". Retrieved November 10, 2016.

External links

Ted Nesser at Find a Grave

[1] ttp://www.daytontriangles.com/nessers.htm%7C Forgotten NFL Family

[2] ttps://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/11/sports/the-draft-fassel-s-son-a-draft-prospect.html%7C Fassel's Son a Draft Prospect, New York Times, 4/11/99

[3] "Professional Researchers Association Hall of Very Good Class of 2015". Retrieved November 10, 2016.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Nesser brothers
The Brothers	Al Nesser Frank Nesser Fred Nesser John Nesser Phil Nesser Ray Nesser Ted Nesser
Other family members	Ted Hopkins Charlie Nesser John Schneider