Larner Somers Gardner Conover (May 21, 1894 – August 4, 1945) was a 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 with ...

player who played during the early years 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). After attending high school in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

, Conover attended

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

, where he served as the team's captain in 1917. Conover was the head basketball coach at Clemson for the 1920–21 season. Nicknamed "The Atlantic City Airedale", Conovar made his professional debut in the NFL in 1921 with the

Canton Bulldogs The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football Leag ...

. Conover played in the league for four years, playing for the

Cleveland Bulldogs The Cleveland Bulldogs were a team that played in Cleveland, Ohio in the National Football League. They were originally called the Indians in 1923, not to be confused with the Cleveland Indians NFL franchise in 1922. However, after team owner S ...

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 ...

and Canton. In 1922, Conover signed on to play with the then-independent,

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 Boston ...

. There he helped the Maroons become the top team in the

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

coal region. In 1924, the Maroons won the Anthracite League championship. The following year, the Maroons joined the NFL. Conover later served as a line coach at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

and as an assistant football coach his alma mater, Penn State, from 1926 to 1932. He died on August 4, 1945, in

, from a heart attack after attempting to revive a drowned swimmer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conover, Larry 1894 births 1945 deaths American football centers Basketball coaches from New Jersey Canton Bulldogs players Clemson Tigers football coaches Clemson Tigers men's basketball coaches Cleveland Bulldogs players Frankford Yellow Jackets players Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football players Pottsville Maroons (Anthracite League) players Sportspeople from Atlantic City, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey