Al Nesser

No. 9, 2, 10, 17, 7, 40, 46

Position:

Guard,
End

Personal information

Born:

June 6, 1893
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.

Died:

March 11, 1967 (aged 73)
Akron, Ohio, U.S.

Height:

6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)

Weight:

195 lb (88 kg)

Career information

College:

None

Career history

As a player:

As a coach:

Akron Indians (1926)

Career highlights and awards

2× NFL champion (1920, 1927)
First-team All-Pro (1921)
Second-team All-Pro (1922)
Helms Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame

Career NFL statistics

Games played:	93
Games started:	75
Touchdowns scored:	4

Head coaching record

Career:

0–1–1 (.250)

Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Coaching stats at PFR

Alfred Louis Nesser (June 6, 1893 – March 11, 1967) was a professional American football guard and end. He played for seven teams: Akron Pros, Cleveland Bulldogs, Columbus Panhandles, Akron Indians, New York Giants, and Cleveland Indians in the National Football League (NFL) and the Cleveland Panthers in the first American Football League. He won NFL Championship titles with the Akron Pros in 1920 and the New York Giants in 1927. During his career, Nesser played against Charlie Copley, Fritz Pollard and Jim Thorpe.

Although he didn't play college football, prior to the formation of the NFL, Nesser played in the "Ohio League" for the Columbus Panhandles and the Canton Professionals (later renamed the Canton Bulldogs). He was one of the seven Nesser Brothers who played professional football. He became the last Nesser brother to retire from the game, when he ended his playing career in 1931. He was the last football player to play without having to use a mandatory helmet.

He died on March 11, 1967, in Akron, Ohio.^[1]

Although none of the Nessers have been named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Al was elected to the professional branch of the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame in 1952. In 2004, he was named to the Professional Football Researchers Association Hall of Very Good in the association's second HOVG class ^[2]

References

^ "Alfred L. Nesser, Football's Iron Man". Akron Beacon Journal. March 12, 1967. p. 8. Retrieved January 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Hall of Very Good". Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2016.

Peterson, Robert W. (1997). Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511913-4.
Lahman, Sean (2008). The Pro Football Historical Abstract. Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press. ISBN 978-1-59228-940-0. Al Nesser football.
Maroon, Thomas (2006). Akron-Canton Football Heritage. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-19-511913-8.
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.
A Colorful Game: Names are in the Book

v t e Akron Pros 1920 APFA champions
Russ Bailey Scotty Bierce Matt Brown Alf Cobb Tuffy Conn Charlie Copley Ken Crawford Budge Garrett Harry Harris Tommy Holleran Pike Johnson Rip King Frank McCormick Buck Miles Frank Moran Bob Nash Al Nesser Al Pierotti Fritz Pollard Bill Preston Fred Sweetland Elgie Tobin Tommy Tomlin Head coach: Elgie Tobin Managers: Art Ranney Frank Nied

New York Giants 1927 NFL champions

v t e Akron Pros / Indians head coaches
Peggy Parratt (1912–1915) Ralph Waldsmith (1916) Suey Welch (1917–1918) Ralph Waldsmith (1919) Elgie Tobin (1920–1921) Fritz Pollard (1921) Brooke Brewer (1922) Dutch Hendrian (1923) Wayne Brenkert (1923–1924) Scotty Bierce (1925) Al Nesser (1926) Frank Nied (1926)

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