Louis (or Lewis) Jerald Partlow (October 9, 1892 in

Miamisburg, Ohio Miamisburg ( ) is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio. The population was 20,181 at the time of the 2010 census. A suburb of Dayton. It is part of the Dayton metropolitan area. Miamisburg is known for its large industry (mainly for its nuclear ...

– April 14, 1981 in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

) was 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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

who played ten seasons with the

Dayton Triangles The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the American Professional Football Association (now the National Football League (NFL)) in 1920. The Triangles were based in Dayton, Ohio, and took their nickname from their home field, Triangl ...

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 ...

. He is remembered for being the first professional footballer to score an official

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 Ameri ...

in NFL history. Lou Partlow started in 1914 with the

West Carrollton West Carrollton is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. A Suburb of Dayton. The population was 13,143 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Great Miami River runs through the town and forms ...

Paper Company team, where he earned the nickname "West Carrollton Battering Ram" due to his training routine which involved deliberately smashing into trees. Partlow also played with the

Cincinnati Celts The Cincinnati Celts (pronounced with a hard C) was the first professional football team to play in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team played in the unofficial "Ohio League" and the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Footba ...

before joining the Dayton Gym-Cadets in 1915, the year before they changed their name to the Dayton Triangles. On 3 October 1920, the Dayton Triangles beat the

Columbus Panhandles The Columbus Panhandles were a professional American football team based in Columbus, Ohio. The club was founded in 1901 by workers at the Panhandle shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad. They were a part of the Ohio League from 1904 before foldi ...

14-0 in the first ever NFL game, in which Partlow scored the first touchdown. Partlow retired in 1927.

Early life

Louis was the seventh child (of eleven) born to Adam Granville Partlow (1857-1928) and Amanda Isabell Muirhead (1864-1947). His siblings: Clara, George, William Jesse, Gussie, Mary, Frank, Vernie (who died in early childhood), Madge, Violet and Dorothy.

Personal life

He went by "Lou". He married Ruth Eloda Myers (1893-1981). She was the daughter of John Henry Myers and Mary Hipple. They had two daughters. The family lived in Ohio for many years, but in the 1950s Lou and Ruth moved to California. This is where they lived out the rest of their long lives, and are buried. Lou died at the age of 88, and Ruth at the age of 86. They are buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills.

References

Dayton Triangles players 1892 births 1981 deaths American football running backs People from Miamisburg, Ohio {{Runningback-1890s-stub