Harry Raymond Mattos (April 7, 1911 – February 5, 1992), nicknamed "the Horse" or "the Toe", 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 wi ...

halfback 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 ...

(NFL) for the Green Bay Packers and the

Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to 19 ...

College career

Mattos played college football at the St. Mary's College of California. In 1934, he threw for two

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 ...

passes in a 14–9 win over Fordham University.

Pro career

Hollywood Braves

After graduating from St. Mary’s in 1935, Mattos signed with the Hollywood Braves of the American Legion Football League, a league of area

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 ...

teams. With the Braves, Mattos was used mainly as a passer, throwing for two

s in three games before a broken leg ended his season.

Cleveland Rams

Mattos started the next year in the NFL, with the Green Bay Packers. However, the Packers, with an already solid backfield, dropped him early in the season. As a result, Mattos signed with the

, who were still members of the second American Football League, a competing major league. The Rams used Mattos as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

and as a wide receiver and as a

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

, to leading the league in scoring. Mattos kicking ability earned him the nickname “The Toe.” He also caught two touchdown catches that season. Mattos helped the Rams battle the Boston Shamrocks for first place in the league, however, the Rams had to settle for a second-place finish. However, Mattos earned the respect of the media. A Boston sportswriter, used a different nickname each time he mentioned Mattos. One such nickname was Harry “Nothing” Mattos. The Rams moved into the NFL and Mattos went with them. Even though the NFL confederation gave the membership to the same team owner, this NFL franchise officially became a detach entity because only four players of the team joined the NFL that was newly launched. No personnel of the team joined the NFL league. The four players were

Mike Sebastian Michael John "Lefty" Sebastian (June 7, 1910 – June 28, 1989) was an American football halfback in the National Football League for the Cincinnati Reds, Boston Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Pirates, (later renamed the Steelers) and ...

, Stan Pincura,

Bud Cooper William "Bud" Gordon Cooper (April 14, 1913 – August 11, 1998) was an American gridiron football player. He played college football at Penn State for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team. After college in 1936 he became a fullback ...

and Harry Mattos. However, in midseason he went back to the AFL, where he finished the season with the Cincinnati Bengals, doing most of his work as a passer. The AFL folded after the season.

Little Giants

Mattos then signed on with the New York Giants. However, like with Green Bay, their backfield was already too talented and he was waived just before the season started. Giants founder,

Tim Mara Timothy James Mara (July 29, 1887 – February 16, 1959) was the founding owner of the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL).''Wellington, the Maras, the Giants, and the City of New York'', Carlo DeVito, Triumph Books, 2006, pp ...

, however, sent him to the Giants’ new farm team in Jersey City, where he starred in the backfield with

Ken Strong Elmer Kenneth Strong (April 21, 1906 – October 5, 1979) was an American football halfback and fullback who also played minor league baseball. Considered one of the greatest all-around players in the early decades of the game, he was inducted ...

as the

Jersey City Giants {{about, the baseball team, the football team, American Association (American football) The Jersey City Giants was the name of a high-level American minor league baseball franchise that played in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the top farm system affi ...

swept to the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

title. Mattos was used as a running back, and led the league in touchdown passes and finished second to Strong in the balloting for the team’s MVP, however somehow failed to make the league all-star team. A year later in 1939, another cut by the Giants resulted in Mattos being sent back to Jersey City. Mattos relinquished his role as a passer and played mostly as a running back. He then made the second all-league team as the Little Giants marched to a 7–3–1 record but failed to repeat as champions. In 1940 Jersey City found itself with an abundance running backs but short of passers. Mattos shifted his role from that of a rusher to a passer.

Paterson Panthers

The Little Giants got off to a slow start in 1940, and when

Ed Danowski Edward Frank Danowski (September 30, 1911 – February 1, 1997) was an American football player who played quarterback and halfback in the National Football League (NFL). He grew up in Aquebogue, his father, Anton, was a Polish immigrant. Foot ...

was signed by the team, there wasn’t much need for Mattos. As a result, he was traded in midseason to the

Paterson Panthers The Passaic Red Devils (also known as the ''Reds'') were an American basketball team based in the Bronx, New York that was a member of the American Basketball League. The team was previously known as the Trenton Bengals The Trenton Bengals was t ...

, where he led the team in a late drive that earned them second place, behind the Giants. He finished third in the league in passing yards and earned an honorable mention on the all-star team. In 1941 Mattos played the full season with Paterson, and led the American Association in completions and passing yardage and made the first all-league team as the Panthers repeated their second-place finish of a year earlier. However manning shortages related to

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 opposing ...

closed down the American Association. Paterson fielded an independent team in 1942, however, Mattos was not among those who turned out.

Comeback

However, in 1944 he resurfaced with the Hollywood Wolves of the Pacific Coast Football League. A new team formed in the midst of the wartime manpower shortage, the Wolves failed to win a single game. However, Mattos's passing ability earned him a spot on the all-league first-team. By this time Mattos was 33 years old and had not played since 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mattos, Harry 1911 births 1992 deaths American football halfbacks Cincinnati Bengals players Cleveland Rams players Cleveland Rams (AFL) players Green Bay Packers players Saint Mary's Gaels football players Players of American football from Oakland, California American Football League players