Ernest Robert Jessen (May 1, 1905 – September 23, 1987) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

tackle who played one season for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

of 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 ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. Jessen was born on May 1, 1905, in

Dickinson, North Dakota Dickinson is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 25,679 at the 2020 census. Dickinson is home to the Ukrainian Cultural Institute, which has a museum and holds events year round for the ...

. He attended

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Waseca, Minnesota. Afterwards he played college football at

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. Jessen spent 1925 to 1928 at Iowa, before attempting a wrestling career in 1929. In 1931, he returned to American football by playing with the newly formed

. As the team's starting tackle, Jessen played in 8 games, starting 6. The Indians folded following the season, ending his professional football career. He died on September 23, 1987, in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

. He was 82 at the time of his death.

References

1905 births 1987 deaths Iowa Hawkeyes football players Cleveland Indians (NFL 1931) players {{Amfoot-bio-stub