Ol' Ricky's Washington Football Tales - American Indians
Ol’ Ricky knows there’s plenty of talk about American Indians being represented by Washington’s football team, right or wrong. But, the team really did have Indians play for it.
Now, coach Lone Star Dietz was not the reason the team switched names from the Braves to its present name in 1933. The name was first and owner George Preston Marshall saw Dietz as a way to enhance it.
Next, Marshall opted to sign some Indian players in “Chief” Larry Johnson, Louis “Rabbit” Weller, John Orien Crow and David Ward. Three of them were photographed wearing headdresses and war paint before one game.
Haskell Institute (now Haskell Indian Nations University) sent 15 players to the pros starting in 1921. Johnson was the only one from the Lawrence, Kan. School to play more than two seasons for then Boston, though.
Via four positions, Johnson played from 1933-35. The Menominee tribe member was elected to the American Indian Athletic Hall of Game in 1997. Crow was only one-quarter Cherokee, but later served as an Indian commissioner in the 1960s. Weller scored on a 60-yard run on his first carry, but finished the season with 112 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. So, he pretty much maxed out on that first carry. Weller was a Caddo Indian and a charter inductee of the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame after a stellar career at Haskell. Ward played just one game for the Redskins. A Yakima Indian, he was also elected to the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.
Tomorrow: Ol’ Ricky remembers “Lombardi Time.”
Rick Snider is an award-winning sports writer who has covered Washington sports since 1978. He first wrote about the Washington football team in 1983 before becoming a beat writer in 1993. Snider currently writes for several national and international publications and is a Washington tour guide. Follow Rick on Twitter at @Snide_Remarks.
