David Smukler (May 31, 1914 – February 22, 1971), also known as "Dynamite Dave", was an American football player who played in 38

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

games, mostly for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

in the late 1930s. He was also the star player for the

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

Owls in the inaugural Sugar Bowl game on January 1, 1935, in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

High school

The youngest of seven children, Smukler was born on May 31, 1914, in

Gloversville, New York Gloversville is a city in the Mohawk Valley region of Upstate New York, and the most populous city in Fulton County. Gloversville was once the hub of the United States' glovemaking industry, with over two hundred manufacturers in Gloversville an ...

, to

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Morris Smukler and Eva Cohen.Baumgartner, Sta
"Temple's Hospital Cases Recovered; Owls Drill in Atlanta With Loaf of Bread; Smukler Proves His Age"
''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', December 22, 1934. Accessed April 13, 2021, via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

. "Any question as to the big fullback's age always draws a round of red hot conversation. Joshing by his mates and angry retorts by Smukler. Last night he settled the question once and for all by pulling a birth certificate from his pocket which showed that he was son of Eva Cohen and David Smukler and that he was born in Gloversville, N. Y., May 31, 1914--which makes him 20 years old." He was Jewish. His family moved to

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.East Side High School in 1929 and 1930, earning all-State honors the second year. Still in his teens, he returned to Gloversville to live with his oldest brother Lewis and became his apprentice, learning to shear gloves from skins. Playing football at Gloversville High School, Smukler was taken out of the line by Coach Lawrence A. (Duke) Miller and made into a fullback. He had never kicked a football for any team before, but he spent hours by himself punting the ball. Smukler kept his muscles strong by walking five miles uphill after every practice. When the football season began, he was considered a “one-man team” and lost only one game. Besides excelling in football, Smukler was also a high-scoring guard on the

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team and a member of the track team. In May 1932 he participated in the annual Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute interscholastic track meet in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...

, and broke two state records, the 12-pound shot put and the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

College

Smukler enrolled in the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

in Columbia, Missouri, and played fullback under

Frank Carideo Francis F. Carideo (August 4, 1908 – March 17, 1992) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He played quarterback at the University of Notre Dame from 1928 to 1930, where he was a two-time unanimous All-American. ...

. He left before the year ended and continued to learn glove cutting under his brother Lewis. In September 1933 Smukler transferred to

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and was chosen to play varsity fullback by Glenn “Pop” Warner one year later. After Smukler helped the

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and mascot for Temple University since its founding in the 1 ...

achieve many wins, Warner stated, “He is a better fullback now than

Ernie Nevers Ernest Alonzo Nevers (June 11, 1902 – May 3, 1976), sometimes known by the nickname "Big Dog", was an American football and baseball player and football coach. Widely regarded as one of the best football players in the first half of the 20th ...

was in Nevers’s sophomore year. Dave is the best sophomore fullback I have ever seen. He may become the greatest fullback I have ever seen, a greater football player than Nevers or

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Nativ ...

.” The coach also commended him as a defensive player, kicker, and forward passer, stating that “he combines fine judgment with his versatility. He is not the type that will get puffed up by praise, either.” Smukler played five consecutive games without ever letting the ball slip from his hand. On January 1, 1935, he played against

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in the inaugural Sugar Bowl game in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. When the teams were awaiting kickoff, Tulane's slogan was “Stop Smukler.” Smukler passed for one touchdown, kicked the

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

, and ran for a 25-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

. His efforts brought the Owls a 14–0 lead, but Tulane would ultimately beat Temple with a score of 20–14. Smukler was described after the game as “a wild bull, a mad elephant, a rip-roaring locomotive, a human-battering ram. He was 212 pounds of speed and power, who asked nothing more of his own line but that it get out of his way and let him run.” Smukler temporarily withdrew from Temple in December 1935 due to a knee injury but returned at the start of the second semester. However, in March 1936 Smukler announced that he was leaving Temple again for a business position that was "too promising to refuse." He never graduated.

Professional football

It was announced in August 1936 that Smukler had a contract with the

. Apparently, the contract was signed two months before, but it was not announced earlier due to the uncertainty of Smukler's injury. He played with the Eagles for four seasons from 1936 to 1939. During his first year he had a career-high of 99 rushes for 321 yards. Steve Owen, coach of the New York Giants, identified the Eagles as one of the teams he most feared “because they are dangerous any time Dave Smukler, the erstwhile Temple Terror, carries the ball.” Apparently, team owner

Bert Bell De Benneville "Bert" Bell (February 25, 1895 – October 11, 1959) was the National Football League (NFL) commissioner from 1946 until his death in 1959. As commissioner, he introduced competitive parity into the NFL to improve the league's comme ...

once said that nobody could stop Smukler “when he was having a good day.” On October 2, 1938, the Eagles played the Chicago Bears at

Philadelphia Municipal Stadium John F. Kennedy Stadium, formerly Philadelphia Municipal Stadium and Sesquicentennial Stadium. was an open-air stadium in Philadelphia that stood from 1926 to 1992. The South Philadelphia stadium was on the east side of the far southern end of ...

. The

(NFL) program described Smukler as a “Powerhouse ball carrier and backer up on defense. Brilliant forward passer and terrific punter. Fifth best passer in the National Football League last year, completing 42 of 118 throws for a total gain of 432 yards. Carried ball from scrimmage 92 times to gain a total of 247 yards.” After playing 34 games with the Eagles, Smukler was suspended in October 1939 for breaking training rules. When owner

asked him why, Smukler allegedly told him, “I’m through with football.” Apparently, Smukler had broken training rules various times in the past. He had made a pledge to Bell that this would not happen again, only to break training once more. Bell said, “In my opinion, Dave was one of the greatest football players in professional football when he wanted to be. But I believe for the best interests of the team and myself we can do better without him as he was a demoralizing influence. He is a good boy but he just can’t keep his promises.” In April 1940 he was traded to the Detroit Lions in exchange for two rookie players. However, Smukler decided to leave football and join the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. He said, “I got $3,000 a year for playing football professionally. It was great during the season. Everybody shook your hand, slapped you on the back, and told you what a swell fellow you were. But the rest of the time, I couldn’t get a job.” Between football seasons Smukler could only make money doing piecework as a glove cutter. “It was enough to discourage any man, and I kept thinking about what I was going to do when I couldn’t play football anymore. I sat down and figured it out and then decided my best bet was the Army.” Smukler was in active service for over three years. After serving as a first sergeant in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, he received a medical discharge due to his old knee injury. He went back to work as a glove cutter in Gloversville and helped coach the football team at Gloversville High School. Smukler considered returning to football with the Detroit Lions, but he never appeared on their gridiron and was sold to the

Boston Yanks The Boston Yanks were a National Football League team based in Boston, Massachusetts, that played from 1944 to 1948. The team played its home games at Fenway Park. Any games that conflicted with the Boston Red Sox baseball schedule in the Ameri ...

in 1944. Smukler played only two games for the Yanks before ending his professional football career.

Later years

In 1946, Smukler moved to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and was employed for three years as a station manager with the Standard Oil Company. He later worked in tire sales and held managerial posts with different companies. In 1947 it was reported that he joined the football coaching staff at Loyola University in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

as an end coach. Smukler later became West Coast commissioner for the Pop Warner Conference. He founded the Pop Warner Conference in Los Angeles and received the group's first Joe Tomlin All-American Award for “service beyond the call of duty.” At time of his death, Smukler was general sales manager for Bridgestone Tire Co. of America, Inc. He was stricken with a heart attack at Los Angeles International Airport while preparing to board a plane for a sales meeting in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. Smukler was 56 years old. He had suffered from heart trouble and undergone surgery seven years earlier for the installation of a pacemaker.

Notes

There is disagreement among sources as to whether Smukler was born in Gloversville, New York, or Newark, New Jersey. The article “Smukler’s Parents Wed 55 Years Ago” states that his parents moved from Gloversville to Newark in 1918, four years after his birth. This would suggest that he was born in Gloversville, NY. An article where he displays his birth certificate indicates he was born in Gloversville. The California Death Index states that he was born in the State of New York. One article said that his father was also named David Smukler, but other sources (including his father's obituary) give his name as Morris Smukler. Most sources agree that he died on February 22, 1971, at the age of 56.

References

External links

Dave Smukler in the Temple University Libraries Digital Collections

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smukler, David 1914 births 1971 deaths American football fullbacks Philadelphia Eagles players Jewish American sportspeople East Side High School (Newark, New Jersey) alumni Players of American football from Newark, New Jersey United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army non-commissioned officers 20th-century American Jews Missouri Tigers football players Temple Owls football players