Jack Emanuel "Soupy" Shapiro (March 22, 1907 – February 5, 2001) was an American
player who played in one game with the
Staten Island Stapletons of the
National Football League (NFL) in
1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
. Shapiro is most famous for being the shortest player in NFL history at about .
Early life
In 1907, Shapiro was born in
New York City,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
,
United States,
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. His parents had immigrated to the
United States with their previous four boys and three girls, as well as their niece. Jack was the only one of his family to be born in America. His father and two of his brothers did odd jobs for a living, resulting in earnings of $9.00 a week.
Shapiro attended Evander Child High School in the
Bronx. While in high school, he was a starter on the football team for three straight years. During the last game in his senior year, however, he was injured and was forced out of the game. His playing weight in high school was .
College career
Prior to joining the Stapletons, Shapiro 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 ...
, while attending
New York University. He played
fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to:
Sports
* A position in various kinds of football, including:
** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position
** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...
for the Violets in 1927 when the team posted a 7-1-2 record while outscoring their opponents by 345-65. He joined the NYU team his freshman year as a "walk on". By his sophomore year, he was given a full scholarship and was awarded a varsity
letterman
Letterman may refer to:
* Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States
People
* David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host
** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...
that season.
Afterwards, Shapiro moonlighted as a professional football player for a team in
Meriden,
Connecticut. The team was sponsored by the
Sons of Italy
The Order Sons of Italy in America ( it, Ordine Figli d’Italia in America, OSIA) is the largest and the oldest Italian American fraternal organization in the United States. A similar organization exists in Canada.
It has more than 600,000 ...
.
NFL
In 1929, Shapiro played in one NFL game with Staten Island. As the shortest player in the history of the NFL, Shapiro played as a blocking back in the Stapletons' 34-0 victory over the
Minneapolis Red Jackets. Shapiro later stated that he was, in fact, on the Stapletons roster for five games, playing in two regular-season games and one exhibition game. The regular-season games were late in the season against the Minneapolis Red Jackets and
Orange Tornadoes.
Recognition
In 1999, Shapiro received recognition in the
Guinness Book of Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
as being the shortest player on record in NFL history.
References
Bibliography
Jews in Sports profile*
Jack Shapiro's obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shapiro, Jack
1907 births
2001 deaths
Jewish American sportspeople
Players of American football from New York (state)
NYU Violets football players
Staten Island Stapletons players
20th-century American Jews