Grenville Archer Lansdell, Jr. (July 16, 1918 – May 14, 1984) 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 ...

halfback who played for 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 ...

's (NFL)

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

during the 1940 season. Prior to his NFL career, Lansdell played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC), filling multiple roles. His official position in college was

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, but he served as a running back, while also throwing passes and punting. The ''

Daily Pilot The ''Daily Pilot'' is a daily newspaper published by the ''Los Angeles Times'' to serve the communities of Sunset Beach, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Laguna Beach in Orange County, California. The ''Daily Pi ...

'' described Lansdell as "one of the last of the truly great all-around triple-threat stars in college football history". In addition, Lansdell was a punt returner and played

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

on defense. Offensively, he led USC in passing yards from 1937 to 1939, and in rushing yards in 1938 and 1939; USC reached the Rose Bowl in both seasons. The 1939 Trojans were recognized as national champions by the

Dickinson System The Dickinson System was a mathematical point formula that awarded national championships in college football. Devised by University of Illinois economics professor Frank G. Dickinson, the system crowned national champions from 1925 to 1940. Dickin ...

. Lansdell appeared in USC's season opener in 1937 against

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

as a replacement for an injured player, throwing for two touchdowns; later in the year, he had 117 yards rushing in a 12–12 tie with

Oregon State 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 ...

. His 1938 performances included a punt return for a touchdown against

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, a touchdown in a USC win over third-ranked

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and another punt return touchdown in a loss to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. In 1939, he ran for 101 yards and scored two touchdowns in a 20–12 USC win over Notre Dame, and one week later threw a game-winning touchdown pass against Washington. In the

1940 Rose Bowl The 1940 Rose Bowl was the 26th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Monday, January 1. In a matchup of undefeated teams, the third-ranked USC Trojans of the Pacific Coast Conference (PC ...

, which concluded the Trojans' 1939 season, Lansdell contributed 51 rushing yards in a 14–0 victory over

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. In the

1940 NFL Draft The 1940 National Football League Draft was held on December 9, 1939, at the Schroeder Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Cardinals selected George Cafego. Player selections Round one Round ...

, the Giants chose Lansdell with the tenth overall pick. He played one season for the team, appearing in two games and rushing for nine yards in seven attempts; he also completed two passes in three attempts. Lansdell's football career was interrupted in 1941, when he joined the U.S. Army. During World War II, Lansdell was a pilot with the

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

. Lansdell did not return to football following the war; instead, he piloted flights for

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

for more than 30 years.

References

External links

NFL.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lansdell, Grenny 1918 births 1984 deaths American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks Canadian players of American football New York Giants players Players of American football from Pasadena, California Sportspeople from Victoria, British Columbia United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II USC Trojans football players