James Gleason Dunn Conzelman was an American football player and coach, baseball executive, and advertising executive.
50 Facts About Jimmy Conzelman
2.
Jimmy Conzelman was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1964 and was selected in 1969 as a quarterback on the National Football League 1920s All-Decade Team.
3.
Jimmy Conzelman then played 10 seasons as a quarterback, halfback, placekicker, and coach in the National Football League for the Decatur Staleys, Rock Island Independents, Milwaukee Badgers, Detroit Panthers, and Providence Steam Roller.
4.
Jimmy Conzelman was a team owner in Detroit and, as player-coach, led the 1928 Providence Steam Roller team to an NFL championship.
5.
From 1932 to 1939, Jimmy Conzelman was the head football coach for the Washington University Bears football team, leading the program to Missouri Valley Conference championships in 1934,1935, and 1939.
6.
Jimmy Conzelman served as head coach of the NFL's Chicago Cardinals from 1940 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1948.
7.
Jimmy Conzelman led the Cardinals to an NFL championship in 1947 and Western Division championships in 1947 and 1948.
8.
Jimmy Conzelman was an executive with the St Louis Browns in Major League Baseball from 1943 to 1945.
9.
Jimmy Conzelman was born James Gleason Ryan Dunn in St Louis, Missouri, in 1898.
10.
Jimmy Conzelman was the son of James Dunn and Marguerite Ryan, though his father died when he was still a baby.
11.
In 1902, his mother married a dentist, Oscar Jimmy Conzelman, who adopted him.
12.
Jimmy Conzelman attended Loyola Academy and later Central High School in St Louis.
13.
Jimmy Conzelman began playing football as a halfback at Central High in 1914.
14.
At McKinley, Jimmy Conzelman was the quarterback of the football team, competed on the basketball and track teams, was president of the boys' athletic association, and served as sergeant-at-arms of the Class of 1916.
15.
Jimmy Conzelman led the 1915 McKinley football team to a league championship.
16.
Jimmy Conzelman enrolled at Washington University in St Louis in 1916.
17.
Jimmy Conzelman played freshman football that year but enlisted in the United States Navy when the United States entered World War I in 1917.
18.
Jimmy Conzelman was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Station north of Chicago.
19.
Jimmy Conzelman took up boxing while in the Navy and won a championship in the middleweight division.
20.
Jimmy Conzelman was selected as the All-Missouri Valley Conference quarterback for 1919.
21.
Jimmy Conzelman was the catcher for the 1920 Washington University baseball team and organized an orchestra, played banjo, and wrote songs while attending Washington University.
22.
Jimmy Conzelman's father had died in May 1919, and he withdrew from school to help support his mother and younger siblings.
23.
In June 1920, Jimmy Conzelman announced that he would not return to Washington University in the fall.
24.
Jimmy Conzelman spent the summer leading an orchestra in Arkansas.
25.
In mid-October 1920, Jimmy Conzelman joined the Decatur Staleys of the newly formed American Professional Football Association.
26.
Jimmy Conzelman planned to relocate permanently to Decatur and play for the Staleys baseball and basketball teams.
27.
Jimmy Conzelman was reunited at Decatur with player-coach George Halas, with whom Jimmy Conzelman had played on the 1918 Great Lakes team.
28.
In October 1921, Jimmy Conzelman joined the Rock Island Independents as the team's captain and coach.
29.
Jimmy Conzelman was the team's second-highest scorer with four touchdowns and two extra points.
30.
In 1925, Jimmy Conzelman organized and became the owner of a new NFL franchise in Detroit, which he named the Detroit Panthers.
31.
Jimmy Conzelman reportedly paid a franchise fee of only $50 to the NFL to acquire the Detroit franchise.
32.
The team's attendance in Detroit was approximately 3,000 persons per game, not enough for Jimmy Conzelman to make a profit.
33.
Accordingly, in August 1927, Jimmy Conzelman sold the Detroit franchise back to the NFL for $1,200.
34.
Jimmy Conzelman brought players Gus Sonnenberg and Eddie Lynch with him from Detroit.
35.
The team's passing combination of Wildcat Wilson to Jimmy Conzelman was the most effective in the league and accounted for most of the club's yardage until Jimmy Conzelman twisted knee ligaments on a reception against the Yankees.
36.
In January 1932, Jimmy Conzelman returned to Washington University in St Louis as the school's head football coach.
37.
Jimmy Conzelman became the school's first alumnus to lead the football team.
38.
In January 1940, Jimmy Conzelman tendered his resignation as head coach of the Washington University football team, but the resignation was not accepted by the athletic board.
39.
The university chancellor directed Jimmy Conzelman to attend an alumni rally in his support.
40.
Jimmy Conzelman appeared and announced that he would not withdraw his resignation, though he would continue to support the program from the outside.
41.
Jimmy Conzelman remained with the Browns for two years and was said to be the "secret weapon" of the 1944 St Louis Browns team that won the American League pennant.
42.
Jimmy Conzelman resigned his post with the club in August 1945.
43.
In late November 1945, Jimmy Conzelman was hired for a second time to serve as head coach of the Chicago Cardinals starting with the 1946 NFL season.
44.
On January 7,1949, three weeks after the loss in the 1948 Championship Game, Jimmy Conzelman resigned as the Cardinals' head coach.
45.
Jimmy Conzelman made occasional appearances in stage and opera productions.
46.
Jimmy Conzelman was the model for the fallen French soldier in the 1926 monument by Frederick MacMonnies of the Battle of the Marne at Meaux, France.
47.
Jimmy Conzelman was married to Peggy Udell, a Ziegfeld Follies performer, in October 1923.
48.
Jimmy Conzelman married his third wife, Anna Forrestal, in December 1936.
49.
Jimmy Conzelman died in July 1970 at age 72 at Missouri Baptist Hospital.
50.
Jimmy Conzelman was buried at Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum in St Louis.