Earle Neale

Alfred Earle “Greasy” Neale (November 5, 1891 - November 2, 1973) played eight seasons in the National League with the Cincinnati Reds and was a member of the 1919 World Series champion Reds team that won the Fall Classic amid “The Black Sox Scandal.” Neale enjoyed a successful career as an outfielder with the Reds, posting a .259 career batting average with 688 hits, 319 runs, 200 RBI and 139 stolen bases. He led the Reds during the 1919 World Series with a .357 batting average with 10 hits and 4 RBI. He played professional football as well with the Canton Bulldogs (1917), the Dayton Triangles (1918) and the Massilon Tigers (1919). Following his playing days, he became the head coach at Washington & Jefferson College, guiding them to the 1922 Rose Bowl. Neale spent a the remainder of the 1920s and 1930s coaching in the college ranks before joining the Philadelphia Eagles in 1941 as head coach. In a short amount of time, Earle assembled a potent offense around Hall of Famers Pete Pihos and Steve Van Buren, though his Eagles defense would be become notorious for many years. Greasy Neale guided the Eagles to three NFL championship games and back-to-back NFL League Championships in 1948 and 1949. Greasy Neale retired following the 1950 season after compiling a 63-43-5 record in 111 games. Greasy Neale was the first person inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1969) and the College Football Hall of Fame (1967) as a coach.