The Mannings have brought a great family presence to the NFL. The Packers' Clay Matthews is the third generation of his family to play in the league. His brother, Casey, is set to join him. The Manning and Matthews families, as great as their accomplishments are, have nothing on the Nessers.
John, Paul, Ted, Frank, Fred and Al Nesser were football playing brothers for the Columbus Panhandles. They starred prior to the NFL and the first few years of the new league. Seventh brother, Ray played in a few games before concentrating on his career as a Columbus Police officer. The family representation didn't stop there. Brother-in-law John Schneider and nephew Ted Hopkins also competed with the Panhandles. In 1921, Ted's son, Charles, joined his father on the team.
The pre-NFL Panhandles were an Ohio power. Which means that the team was one of the better teams anywhere. The team was run by one of the most significant figures in the history of professional football. Joe Carr would go on to become the first real president/commissioner of the NFL. His work and dedication kept the league alive during the first two decades. Prior to the NFL, Carr worked for the Panhandle division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Carr loved sports but was not much of an athlete. He had a great passion for the business and logistic side of sports. He would form a company football team. Lucky for Carr, the makings of a great team already worked for the Railroad. The team was built around the Nessers. A great benefit to being Railroad employees was the free travel to games. Carr took advantage of this by scheduling mostly road games. The team practiced during their lunch hour. They would slam down their lunches in 15 minutes and practice the remainder. The team was a true family affair, Rose Nesser would drive the team when needed. Romance blossomed as Rose and John Schneider met, fell in love and married.
Ah, the football. The Nessers were truly something else. None of the team had any college experience. The brothers learned and played the game amongst themselves on the railyards. As brothers will do, they would kill each other. When they played other teams, something brutal was unleashed.
"Getting hit by a Nesser is like falling from a moving train"-Knute Rockne, Massilon Tigers end
"Once again the presence of the Nesser brothers guaranteed injuries."-the Detroit Free Press
In the less organized, pre-NFL days, teams would occasionally show up short players. The Panhandles, in an effort to keep the game on, would loan a player or two. John Schneider was often the player. He was scared to death of the Nessers. They would destroy him. He wouldn't be able to work for a week. Schneider didn't know what was more scary, playing against the brothers or asking their permission to marry their sister.
By the time the Columbus Panhandles had joined the NFL, the Nessers had already played for 15 years. John played until he was 45. Their greatest years were those before. Al Nesser still made some All-Pro teams from 1922-25. From 1909-1919, the Panhandles had a 48-39-7 record in mostly road games. Even in victory, the Nessers opponents often felt like the beaten team.
As gentle off the field as the were vicious on it, the Nessers were a larger than life family in Columbus in those days. Now, they are largely forgotten. Surprisingly, Joe Carr is as well. Columbus was in the center of the professional football universe. It's disappointing that it is as if it never happened. The Professional Football Hall of Fame recently opened a Nesser family display. It's well deserved. All current football playing families are treading water trying to catch the Nessers.
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