Eberle Hynson "Elbie" Schultz (December 23, 1917 – May 20, 2002) was an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player in the

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 ...

from 1940 to 1947. An All-American lineman for

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

during his collegiate days, Schultz was drafted into the NFL in 1940 by 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 plays ...

. He also played for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, and the

Rams In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)1945 NFL Championship. During his years after the NFL he worked as a football coach, game official, and automobile dealer in

Eureka, California Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt ...

Biography

Early years

Eberle Hynson Schultz, known to friends by the nickname "Elbie" in his younger years, was born December 23, 1917, in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

. He grew up in the historic town of

Oregon City ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...

Collegiate career

The 6'4" Schultz attended

Oregon State College Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2020 United ...

, where he was an All-American lineman for the collegiate football team in 1939, helping to lead the Beavers to a 9-1-1 record."Oregon State Football All-Americans: Eberle Schultz,"
Oregon State University Sports Information Department, pg. 186. Schultz became the 6th All-American in the history of the OSU football program. As was the case with most football players of his era, Schultz played on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, gaining particular accolades for his play as an offensive

left guard In gridiron football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is a player who lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team on the line of scrimmage used primarily for blocking. Right g ...

. Schultz was also named the Beavers' "Most Aggressive Lineman" following the 1939 season and had his named inscribed at the top of the new Otto Sitton Memorial Plaque as a permanent remembrance of this honor. Schultz also briefly fought as an amateur

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

in the heavyweight division during his collegiate years, losing by decision in his first foray in the ring.

Professional career

Schultz was a draft pick of the National Football League's

in 1940, going in the fourth round as the league's 28th overall pick."Elbie Schultz,"
Database Football, www.databasefootball.com/ Schultz played for a series of NFL teams during the decade of the 1940s, including the Eagles,

, and the

Rams In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Schultz played for two teams composed of temporarily merged NFL franchises, including the " Steagles" (members of the Steelers and Eagles) in 1943 and " Card-Pitt" (members of the Steelers and the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

) in 1944. In October 1944, Schultz was at the epicenter of a brief player strike that rocked the Card-Pitt team. Together with star halfback

Johnny Butler John Stephen Butler (March 20, 1893 in Fall River, Kansas – April 29, 1967 in Seal Beach, California), was a professional baseball player who played shortstop from 1926 to 1929. After his playing career ended, he was a coach for the Chicago Wh ...

and fullback Johnny Grigas, Schultz was fined $200 by coaches

Walt Kiesling Walter Andrew Kiesling (May 27, 1903 – March 2, 1962) was an American football guard and tackle who spent 36 years as a player, coach, and aide with National Football League (NFL) teams. He was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall ...

and Phil Handler for alleged "indifferent play" following a loss to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

."Star Back Suspended in Player Strike,"
''Albany Democrat-Herald,'' Oct. 19, 1944, pg. 8. The trio protested the unfairness of the relatively massive penalty and on October 18 the entire team refused to practice, forcing a meeting between players and club management. The conflict was shortly resolved, although Butler stormed out of the meeting and was indefinitely suspended by the team. Schultz was popular with his teammates and in August 1946 was elected by his peers as team captain of the Los Angeles Rams. Shultz moved from left guard to left tackle towards the end of his pro career, appearing in 85 regular season NFL games over the 8 seasons of his career. Schultz played his last football in the

1947 NFL season The 1947 NFL season was the 28th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season by one game from eleven games per team to twelve, a number that remained constant for fourteen seasons, through 1960. The s ...

. Schultz's return to the Rams was made problematic when in April 1948 he sued the club for breach of contract, alleging that the team had failed to find him the off-season employment promised if he moved his residence to Los Angeles. Schultz contended that the two-year contract he signed with the Rams in August 1946 guaranteed to pay him $10,000 per season for the 1946 and 1947 campaigns, with an additional clause requiring the team to find him a job comparable to the $450 per month position he left in Oregon City, Oregon, by March 1, 1948, or pay a penalty of $5,000."Ex-Oregon State Gridder Charges Rams Broke Deal,"
''Salem Daily Capital Journal,'' April 1, 1948, pg. 8. Named as defendants in the suit were team majority owner

Dan Reeves Daniel Edward Reeves (January 19, 1944 – January 1, 2022) was an American football running back and coach in the National Football League (NFL). During his 38 years in the NFL, Reeves participated in nine Super Bowls, the third most for an ...

and three other principals of the club. While he would eventually win his $5,000 suit against the team, a contract for 1948 from the Rams was consequently not forthcoming. In July 1948, Schultz signed an $8,000 contract with the

Los Angeles Dons The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the newly formed football league the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949, and played their home games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Dons were the first profes ...

of the rival

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

(AAFC) to play in the forthcoming 1948 season.Associated Press
"Grid Star Files Suit for $7500,"
''Bakersfield Californian,'' Nov. 29, 1948, pg. 21. He reported to the team's training camp in August but was cut by the team 12 days later and paid only $500 of the contracted sum. Schultz filed yet another lawsuit, seeking payment of his full salary from the Dons. Although he prevailed in this second lawsuit as well as the first, Schultz's career in professional football was effectively at an end.

Years after the NFL

Following the end of his pro football career, Schultz moved to the North Coast of California, settling in Eureka in 1949."Newsmakers of 1962: Redwood Motors (ad),"
''Humboldt Standard,'' Jan. 22, 1963, pg. 11. He briefly toyed with entering the coaching profession, serving as an assistant coach of the football team at

Humboldt State College California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt also known as Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California or California State Polytechnic Universit ...

in neighboring Arcata, California. Unable to land a permanent position as a Lumberjacks coach, in 1953 Schultz turned to part-time collegiate officiating. He remained an active official throughout the decade of the 1950s. Schultz's main occupation in the years after football involved the selling of automobiles. He took a job as a salesman for a Eureka dealer of

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

s and

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...

s, remaining with the company for seven years."Ex-Pro Grid Player Runs VW Agency,"
''Eureka Times-Standard,'' Oct. 10, 1971, pg. 26. In 1957, he moved over to a new

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

dealership, Redwood Motors, where he took a position as sales manager. Schultz would join with a business partner to purchase this company in July 1959, before buying his partner out and assuming complete ownership early in 1962. Schultz was a leading member of the local

Kiwanis club Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. Since 1987, the organizatio ...

and was elected multiple times to the board of directors of the California Association of Employers, a business lobbying group. About 1962 he was named to the Eureka Planning Commission, in charge of construction zoning regulations. During the early 1960s, Schultz renewed his connection to the game of football as a coach of the semi-pro Humboldt Forresters, a team sponsored by the Redwood Empire Athletic Club. Schultz was elected as president of the Eureka Chamber of Commerce for 1976. Schultz's met his wife, the former Irene Kezsely (1923-2013), while in Cleveland with the Rams, for whom she worked as part of the front office staff."Irene Schultz (obituary),"
''Eureka Times-Standard,'' March 19, 2013. The pair married on May 3, 1947. In Eureka Irene Schultz was active in local civic organizations and gained some reputation as a formidable local bowler."Humboldt County Women Star in Sports Activities,"
''Humboldt Standard,'' Aug. 17, 1960, pg. 12. Together the couple had five children.

Death and legacy

Eberle Schultz, who went by the nickname "Eb" in his later years, died May 20, 2002, in his adopted hometown of Eureka, California. He was 84 years old at the time of his death.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schultz, Elbie 1917 births 2002 deaths Players of American football from Eugene, Oregon American football offensive linemen Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers players Steagles players and personnel Card-Pitt players Cleveland Rams players Los Angeles Rams players Oregon State Beavers football players Sportspeople from Eureka, California Players of American football from Humboldt County, California