Throwback Thursday: Pro Football's Half-Decade Team 1915-19

Many fans and media consider the start of the NFL's history as the day that the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in what's now known as Super Bowl I. There were 46 seasons of organized professional football that came before the season that ended that day. The NFL doesn't do much to change that perception. It feels like the Hall of Fame voters are now focusing solely on the Super Bowl years. The delayed inductions of Fritz Pollard and Benny Friedman and the ignoring of players like Duke Slater and Lavvie Dilweg suggest that the Hall of Fame doors might be closed on the league's early decades, the 1920s in particular. The NFL is older than the Super Bowl and professional football is older than the NFL. If the 1920s might be forgotten, the years before might as well not have happened at all. Those years only matter to the very serious football historians. Well, I'm going to shine a little light on the five years before the formation of the American Professional Football Association/National Football League in 1920. In the recent issue of the Professional Football Researchers Association's Coffin Corner, historian John Wilke did a terrific job of putting together a Pro Football Half-Decade Team for the years 1915-19. Here is that team.

Ends
Alfred "Greasy" Neale
Canton Bulldogs, 1915, 17
Dayton Triangles, 1918

Bib "Nasty" Nash
Massillon Tigers, 1916-17, 19

Tackles
Howard "Cap" Edwards
Canton Bulldogs, 1915-17, 19
Fort Wayne Friars, 1915-16

Frank Nesser
Columbus Panhandles, 1915-19
Massilon Tigers, 1917
Akron Pros, 1917
Detroit Heralds, 1917

Guards
Clarence "Doc" Spears
Canton Bulldogs, 1916-17, 19

Al Nesser
Columbus Panhandles, 1915-17
Massillon Tigers, 1915
Akron Pros/Indians, 1917, 19

Center
Ralph "Fats" Waldsmith
Canton Bulldogs, 1915-17
Akron Indians, 1919

Quarterback
Milton Ghee
Canton Bulldogs, 1916-17
Hammond All-Pros, 1919

Halfbacks
Jim Thorpe
Canton Bulldogs, 1915-17, 19
Pine Village A.C., 1915

Norb Sacksteder
Dayton Gym-Cadets/Triangles, 1915-16, 18
Massillon Tigers, 1915
Detroit Heralds, 1916-17, 19

Fullback
Pete Calac
Canton Bulldogs, 1916-17, 19
Detroit Braves, 1916

***

Jim Thorpe and "Greasy" Neale are honored in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The rest of the team is forgotten. Not really. But close. A few of us will remember them. Every football fan should know about the Nesser family. Manning? Matthews? The real first family of Professional Football is the Nesser family. Six brothers, a son, a nephew, and a brother-in-law played for the Massillon Tigers.

The pre-1920 player movement in professional football was one of the biggest reasons for the formation of the APFA/NFL. The player movement then makes the player movement now look mild.

This All-Decade team reflects the on-field success of the Canton Bulldogs. Seven of the 11 players played for the team, including the Half-Decade's dominant player. Jim Thorpe.