Francis Dale "Hap" Moran (July 31, 1901 – December 30, 1994) was a collegiate and professional

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 wi ...

player. He played mainly at halfback for

Carnegie Tech Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

(1922),

Grinnell College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-stu ...

(1923–1925), the

Frankford Yellow Jackets The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, although its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets won ...

(1926), 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 ...

(1927), the

Pottsville Maroons The Pottsville Maroons were an American football team based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in the northeastern part of the state. Founded in 1920, they played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1925 to 1928. In 1929 they relocated to Bosto ...

(1928), and the New York Giants (1929–1933). When he retired from the NFL in 1933, he held the league records for the longest run from scrimmage (91 yards against the Green Bay Packers on November 23, 1930)Progression of NFL Records, by Ken Pullis, Professional Football Researchers Association, 2002, p.9 and most yards receiving in a single game (114 yards against 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 ...

on October 15, 1933).Grid Graph, Anatomy of Two Records, by Steve Hirdt,

Elias Sports Bureau The Elias Sports Bureau is a privately held company providing historical and current statistical information for the major professional sports leagues operating in the United States and Canada. Elias is the official statistician for Major League Ba ...

br>
/ref> His 91-yard run remained a New York Giants record for 75 years until it was broken by

Tiki Barber Atiim Kiambu "Tiki" Barber (; born April 7, 1975) is an American former football running back who played for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for the University of Virginia ...

on December 31, 2005.

Playing career

High school

Although he eventually made his name in football, Moran was better known in high school for basketball. He was captain of the Iowa All-State team in 1920, and his team from Boone represented Iowa at the National Interscholastic Tournament at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, where he was named a High School All-American by

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfiel ...

Collegiate

He was recruited by Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh primarily for basketball, but also played football. In the 1922 Carnegie– Notre Dame game, the

Four Horsemen The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Christian scriptures, first appearing in the Book of Revelation, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos. Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand tha ...

first formed up as a backfield under the coaching of Knute Rockne.''The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame'', by James A. Peterson, Hinckley & Schmitt, Chicago, 1959 Moran would also play against the Four Horsemen in their last game together in 1930, when the Notre Dame All-Stars faced the New York Giants in a charity game which raised $115,000 to benefit New York City's unemployed. In 1923 Moran returned to Iowa and played football and basketball for

. As a passer his favorite receiver was Morgan Taylor, who won the first gold medal for the United States in the 1924 Olympics in Paris running the 400-meter hurdles.

Professional

In 1926 Moran was hired by Frankford Yellow Jackets' Coach

Guy Chamberlin Berlin Guy "Champ" Chamberlin (January 16, 1894 – April 4, 1967), sometimes misspelled Guy Chamberlain, was an American football player and coach. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1962 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame ...

, and his first professional game was against Akron, led by Fritz Pollard, the All-American from Brown University, one of the few black players in the NFL. Moran scored Frankford's only points of the game and earned a starting spot as halfback. Frankford won the NFL Championship that season, and Moran was their second-highest scorer. Moran played the first part of the 1927 season with the Yellow Jackets and was then recruited by the Chicago Cardinals, primarily for his kicking skills. He was ranked second in the league for field goals and ninth for points after touchdowns that year. In 1928 he played in the backfield for the

with John McNally, better known as Johnny Blood. After New York Giants' lineman Steve Owen knocked himself unconscious trying to tackle Moran, the Giants invited him to join their team for the last game of the 1928 season. Moran stayed with the Giants for the next five seasons. In the course of his career Moran started at halfback, tailback, wingback, quarterback, blocking back, defensive back and linebacker. In 1930 Moran set the NFL record for the longest run from scrimmage, in 1931 he was the Giants' scoring leader,''New York Giants, 75 Years'', by Jerry Izenberg, Tehabi Books, California, 1999, p.174 and in 1933 he set the NFL record for the most yards receiving in a single game. After retiring from the NFL he played for the Paterson Panthers of the American Association,"ALL THOSE A.F.L.'S: N.F.L. COMPETITORS, 1935-1941"
, by Bob Braunwart, THE COFFIN CORNER: Vol. 1, No. 2 (1979) and coached the Panthers in 1936. After his football career, he was a buyer for Western Electric, living in

Sunnyside, Queens, New York Sunnyside is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. It shares borders with Hunters Point, Queens, Hunters Point and Long Island City to the west, Astoria, Queens, Astoria to the nort ...

and coaching a youth football team there.

References

External links

Player Profile
at The Professional Football Researchers Association
NFL Player StatsHap Moran.org
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moran, Hap 1901 births 1994 deaths American football running backs Carnegie Mellon Tartans football players Chicago Cardinals players Frankford Yellow Jackets players Grinnell Pioneers football players People from Belle Plaine, Iowa People from Sunnyside, Queens Players of American football from Iowa Pottsville Maroons players New York Giants players Burials in Connecticut Grinnell College alumni