The great George Kenneally, A Retrospective, part one; Revere another time. By Don Zollo PROLOGUE Those who were fortunate enough to attend Revere High School from the 40s to the 60s either had Mr. Kenneally as teacher or at the least heard stories about him and his dynamic character. As I type this I can see him in my mind walking about the classroom clutching the course book to his chest. An imposing figure strutting about lecturing on the various Presidential administrations. If he liked a certain President, FDR for example, his description would be, he was a most dynamic dyed in the wool Democrat. If someone acted-up in class hed restore order with an old Irish phrase like, Ill take no sauce in the bargain, knock it off. Students liked and respected him. He had a charisma and charm that drew people to him with genuine affection. Most students knew he had a football background, but to what depth few knew. I developed a vague idea when some of my classmates skipped-school on Saint Patricks Day and went to Southie to celebrate. In one of the bars they wandered into that day they told of a large picture on the wall of a football player with the accompanying words proudly proclaiming: SOUTH BOSTONS OWN GEORGE KENNEALLY. It wasnt until the advent of the internet did I know just how famous he was. In fact there is so much Kenneally data that this Retrospective will take at least two maybe three parts and I certainly will not cover all that is out there, itll be a little more than the scratching of the surface. This first part will conclude with the start of the 1933 NFL season. Source material is noted in the epilogue. However, some specificity should be provided for an in article source cited as Philip Carver. Before doing so a definition is in order to help simplify matters. In Football there is in usage a term called Coffin Corner. Per Merriam -- Webster the definition is: One of the corners formed by a goal line and a sideline on a football field into which a punt is often aimed so that it may go out of bounds close to the defenders goal line. The term has been extended into a magazine of the same name, Coffin Corner. Which is published by the Professional Football Researchers Association, and produces six issues a year. The gist of their content is historical, biographical, statistical, famous games, etc. Phil Carver is one of their contributors and a Kenneally expert. In vol. 14, No. 6, of 1992 Carvers bio of Kennealy appeared under title of: George V. Kenneally, Sr., A Forgotten Hero. Hopefully this provides sufficient background with respect to Carver and the words Coffin Corner. Why Boston has never honored Mr. Kenneally with some fitting memorial I dont know. Carver, in an alluding way is of the opinion he deserves one and I wholeheartedly agree with those sentiments. Sincerely, Don Zollo GEORGE KENNEALLY, A RETROSPECTIVE PART ONE Philip Carver has compared George Kenneally with such Boston sports legends as Williams, Orr, and Bird. Carvers words were written prior to Tom Bradys ascendancy in Boston sports. Back then Carvers way of thinking was Football had no big star to represent itself. Hence Kennally should be the marquee name. Carver makes a case for South Bostons own George Gigi Kennealy as a local native who pioneered football in Boston & New England; played with distinction at the sand-lot, high school, college, & National Football League (NFL) level of the game, coached at the aforementioned levels; was an All Pro Player; was considered to be one of the NFLs premier ends; and was part owner of the first ever NFL franchise in Boston. Without question a most impressive football resume. Wow, just think a part owner, our Mr. Kenneally back in the 30s was a sort of Bob Kraft. The Boston media of the past proclaimed Kenneally: The Father of Pro Football in New England! Other media in the form of Readers Digest, in the 50s published an article entitled, George Kenneally the toughest two-way end to ever play for the Philadelphia Eagles. Carver concedes time has past him by and in the process has dimmed the father title and relegated Kenneally to footnote status. Carver boldly asserts,. more than anyone else he truly is Boston’s greatest home-grown sports legend. The legend known as George Vincent Gigi Kennelly, was formally, but affectionately, known to his former RHS students as, Mr. Kenneally. Having been born on April 12, 1902 and passing from this earth on September 3, 1968. In a life span of 66 years he would accomplish more than most people who lived a score plus years. We here in Revere mostly remember him as an educator, coach, and character builder whether on the field of play or in the classroom. To a number of people beyond the Revere community he would be known for other qualities and attributes associated with football. One common trait tended to be that whether in Revere or the nation at-large he would develop a reputation for endearing himself to people and touching their hearts where ever he encountered them. The Kenneally life begins in Southie, at an early age he demonstrated an ability for the academic and athletic. With respect to the former he won acceptance to the Boston Latin School and with regard to the latter he would display his athleticism by distinguish himself in football, baseball, and track --- he would break and hold Bostons record for the 50 yard dash. Upon graduation, class of 1919, he didnt seek a college career, at least not immediately. Due to his love of football he would join with a group of other young men and form a semi-pro football team under the auspices of the Knights of Columbus. The team would name itself the Pere Maerquettes and go on to win the local championship in 1921. In true Kenneally fashion Gigi played such outstanding football that many big name colleges began to court him. In the end he avoided the big college names and decided to follow his older brother to Staint Bonaventures a small Franciscan Catholic college in Allegheny, NY. In his four year college career he earned 16 varsity letters of which one was in boxing. As might be expected he also captained the football team. He would graduate in 1926 and move on to the NFL. His first stop on the pro circuit would be with the Pottsville Maroons. Keep in mind the NFL in 1926 wasnt as flush with cash as it is today. Lack of financing would plague early NFL development and to some extent Kenneallys football experience. In fact financing had something to do with how the team got its name, the Maroons. Once the team was formed they sought out the owner of the local hardware and sporting goods store to inquire about purchasing football uniforms. Boy, were they lucky! He just happen to have a store room filled with maroon colored football pants and jerseys. I imagined someone must of stiffed him on the uniforms; hence, they became the Pottsville Maroons. Pottsville, PA is in the center of PAs coal country. A town with a lot of big tough miners, some eager to play football. Coal and miners were what symbolized this hamlet tucked away in the hills of PA. Even their home stadium carried this symbolizing one step further with the name of Miners Field. The year before Kenneally joined the team they dominated the NFL. In the first 7 games they outscored their opponents by a total of 162 to 6! That was their first year in the NFL and they would go on to win the Championship Game, i. e., the equivalent of the Super Bowl. However, since also that same year they played an exhibition game with Notre Dame and its 4 famed Horseman (beating them in the last seconds 9 to 7) in Philadelphia a protest was lodged against them for violating someone elses franchise territory and the NFL rescinded their win and gave the title to the team they beat, the Chicago Cardinals. The Cardinals, with true class, felt it was an undeserved honor and refused the title. To this day a winner of the Championship Game (Super Bowl) of 1925 has never been declared. Likewise to this day Pottsville die-hards are still trying to get the NFL to award their town the recognition they won on the field 87 years ago. Meanwhile the die-hard football aficionados of 1926 Pottsville got to see another winning team with a new new star named Kenneally. The ensuing is a direct quote from a Brief History of the Maroons: In 1926 the Pottsville Maroons signed George Gigi Kenneally, a talented athlete who had made a name for himself both in the boxing ring and on the gridiron at St. Bonaventure. The agreement he signed as a rookie was a standard uniform players contract, with a salary typical for an incoming player of the time -- $100 per game! Gigis on-field prowess with the Maroons garnered him election as team captain in 1927 along with all-pro honors as an outstanding end in both 1927 and 1928. Following the 1928 season he was part of a New England based partnership that purchased the club and moved it to Boston, where it was renamed the Boston Bulldogs. The Maroons record for Kenneallys first year was: 14 games played, 10 won, 2 lost, 2 tied. The aggregate score for the season was, Pottsville 153 all opponents 27. Of their 10 wins 8 were shut-outs. The 2 tied games were 0 to 0 scores. They lost one game by 2 points to the Chicago Bears. The other loss, to the Providence Steam Rollers, was a shut-out, 14 to 0. The year end standings showed them in 3rd place, just missing a chance to make it to the 1926 Championship game (Super Bowl). In 1927 the team elected Kenneally Captain and he would also be named to his first All-Pro Squad. The 1928 season wasnt the teams best, they slipped in the standings due to a record of 2 wins, 8 losses. Despite this dismal finish he once again made the All-Pro Squad. While the teams year was a bad one Kenneallys was just the opposite, his stock was on the rise. By the conclusion of the 28 season the teams front office could no longer stem the tide of red ink. More money going out than coming in finally caught up with the business end of the operation forcing ownership to sell. The new owners were George Kenneally and a partner/s. Source research indicates conflicting results, one implies 2 people owning the team while another generalizes more than two partners. There is clarity on one point Kenneallys name is the only one mentioned. So whoever the other/s were remains a mystery. Kenneally and his mysteriously elusive partner/s purchased the franchise, equipment, and players for $2,500 --- super wow, a NFL franchise for $2,500, unreal in todays market! Kenneally being a son of Southie and a true Bostonian along with his partner/s decided to transfer the franchise to Boston and rename the team The Bulldogs. Gigis responsibilities were, partner, Asst. Coach, captain, and player. Their 1929 record was a gloomy 4 - 4. Even more gloomier was the economy, 1929 would usher in the stock market crash and the start of the great depression. So it wasnt unexpected for the team to disband. They would do so with all bills paid and no outstanding debts. This, in and of itself, is a great testament to Kenneallys managerial ability and personal integrity --- George Kenneally was always a class act! In addition to his managerial ability and integrity he still had football talents, and they were in demand. So 1930 started with him a member of the Chicago Cardinals. Even though he had a good year his family and old hometown were beckoning. That beckoning directed him to a coaching position at Boston University. Like everyone else of that era he too could use some extra money and rejoined his old semi-pro team the Pere Marquettes when he wasnt needed at BU. When not coaching, or playing, he continued trying to obtain funding to re-activate the Boston Bulldogs. Try as he may such wouldnt be in the cards, it would unfortunately become a will-o-the-wisp objective. On the other hand his prowess on the field lead the Pere Marquettes to a perfect season. A season that also saw them, a semi-pro team, beat two NFL teams. The aggregate score for this perfect season 236 for the Kenneally lead team and 9 points for their opponents, 9 POINTS, UNREAL! 1932 was another unreal year for Kenneally, but in a negative manner. On the legal side of the coin he held the Boston jurisdictional rights to a NFL franchise. On the practical side of the coin he was without financial resources and clout at NFL headquarters. This latter point was made clear when the infamous laundry tycoon George Preston Marshall, in a rather non-surreptitious way made known his desire to acquire the Boston territory for his newly purchased NFL franchise. Marshall out-rightly bought the Dayton Triangles from Carl Storck, who co-incidentally was the NFL Treasurer. Storck, his conflict of interest notwithstanding, convinced Kenneally that any battle ensuing over this jurisdictional dispute would not be resolved in his favor. I assume Kenneally reasoned he didnt have the money to effectively fight the implacable Storck, plus the Marshall invasion, and that it might be more practical to join them rather than fight them. The consequences of this maneuver culminated in Boston receiving its second NFL team. That new team would become the Boston Braves. Permit me to dash-off on a tangent here to alleviate some potential confusion. In 1932 Bostons National league baseball team was likewise named the Braves and they played in Braves Field. This field later became the property of Boston University who renamed it Nickerson Field. So it came to be that Boston had two professional sports teams named the Braves, who both played at Braves Field. For there second season the NFL Braves would change their game venue to Fenway Park. Now, back to the NFL Braves. Kenneally would wear several hats for the Braves, Asst. Coach, Team Captain, and played end. The season ended with the Braves in 4th place owning a 4-4-2 record. The following year they would re-locate to Fenway Park with a new coach named Lone Star Dietz, a Native American. In addition to these two changes there would be one other, a new Team name, Redskins. In the 30s Boston would prove to be a weak NFL city. 1936 would be the Redskins last season in Beantown. Starting in 1937 Washington, DC would become home for the Redskins, where they still reside today. 1932 was the first and last season Kenneally played with the Braves. It appears he found it near insufferable to be associated with the ebullient Marshall. Per Wikipedia Marshall demonstrated a racial attitude that began to change 1962 when the late Atty. Gen. Bobby Kennedy induced some pressure upon him. The insuppressible George Kenneally moved on to better things in 1933. Kenneally in company with Braves Coach Lud Wray signed with the newly formed Philadelphia Eagles. To be continued with part two. EPILOUGE POST SCRIPTs TO THE ABOVE: 1.) Regarding the Notre Dame game here is a quoted excerpt from the Maroons website: Experts believed the NFL was still decades away from competing with college football. But on a neutral field in Philadelphia , in a battle described as The Greatest Football Game Ever Seen, the Maroons shocked the world and turned the football establishment upside-down, defeating Notre Dame 9-7 on a last-second field goal by their captain Charlie Berry who had his kicking cleat bronzed for eternity. Conclusion of part 1. Once my research and writing of part 2 is completed Ill post same.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 02:50:30 +0000
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