Louis "Rabbit" Weller (March 2, 1904 – April 17, 1979) was a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

halfback with the

Boston Redskins The Washington Commanders, an American football team belonging to the National Football League (NFL), have also played as the Boston Braves, Boston Redskins, Washington Redskins, and Washington Football Team. Founded in 1932, the team has won fi ...

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) in 1933. He was a Native American member of the

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...

tribe. He attended Haskell Institute. In 1972, Weller was a charter inductee into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.

Early life

Weller was born in

Anadarko, Oklahoma Anadarko is a city in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The city is fifty miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The population was 5,745 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Caddo County. History Anadarko got its name when its post off ...

. He was a multi-sport athlete at Arkansas City High School in Arkansas City, Kansas and then played football for Arkansas City Junior College from 1925 to 1926. During those two seasons, Weller scored 190 total points, which included 28 touchdowns.King, C. Richard (2004). ''Native Americans in Sports'', pg. 320, M. E. Sharpe. . In 1927, he attended

Chilocco Indian School Chilocco Indian School was an agricultural school for Native Americans on reserved land in north-central Oklahoma from 1884 to 1980. It was approximately 20 miles north of Ponca City, Oklahoma and seven miles north of Newkirk, Oklahoma, near ...

, where he once returned seven punts for touchdowns in one game. After attending Chilocco, Weller was a four-sport athlete at the Haskell Institute. He was the first three-time captain of the Haskell football team, where he scored thirteen touchdowns of 60 yards or more. In 1930, he was selected to the Knute Rockne

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n team and the

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...

second-team. One of Weller's most notable performances was in 1930 against the undefeated Oklahoma A&M Cowboys. In that game, he returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and later returned a punt 95 yards for the winning touchdown in a 13–12 victory. Weller participated in a 1930 charity football game for both teams, representing Chilocco Indian School in the second half and Arkansas City Junior College in the first.

Other sports

Besides football, Weller excelled at other sports, including track and baseball.

James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote ...

, who invented the sport of

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

in 1891, called Weller "the most expert dribbler I have ever seen."

Professional career

After college, Weller played two years of professional football. In 1933, he played in the

(NFL) for the

under his former coach at Haskell, William Henry "Lone Star" Dietz, as well as with two other American Indian football players, "Chief" Larry Johnson and John Orien Crow. In 1934, he played in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

for the Tulsa Oilers.

Personal life

After retiring from football, Weller worked for the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

. He died on April 17, 1979, in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, following a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

he sustained while playing

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

with former teammate and former Commissioner of the

John Orien Crow.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weller, Louis 1904 births 1979 deaths American football halfbacks Boston Redskins players Haskell Indian Nations Fighting Indians football players People from Anadarko, Oklahoma People from Arkansas City, Kansas Players of American football from Kansas Players of American football from Oklahoma Native American sportspeople Caddo people