Ellis Menzies Lindsey (July 25, 1897 – September 20, 1961) was an attorney as well as 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 ...

player in the early 1920s. Lindsey was a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Evansville Crimson Giants The Evansville Crimson Giants were a professional American football team based in Evansville, Indiana and were a part of the National Football League in 1921 and 1922. The Giants home games were played at Bosse Field. According to the ''Evansvill ...

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 ...

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

. He was also a co-manager of the

semi-pro ''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tier ...

Evansville Ex-Collegians in 1920, before joining the Crimson Giants. After a dispute with Crimson Giants' owner

Frank Fausch Franklin Leo Fausch (born June 13, 1895 - July 19, 1968) was a professional football player-coach for the Evansville Crimson Giants of the National Football League in 1921 and 1922. He was also the owner, co-founder, president and general manager ...

, Lindsey tried to re-establish the Ex-Collegians team. The new team was back by Evansville's baseball club and named the Evansville Pros. However that team last only two games before folding.

Career

Lindsey as the manager and quarterback of the Ex-Collegians, was in charge of promoting the team. In 1920, he tried to schedule a

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

game between the Ex-Collegians and 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 ...

. The deal never materialized. During the 1920 season, a group of local investors tried to purchase the Ex-Collegians, however Lindsey refused to give up the team, due to differences between the players and the investors. When Frank Fausch established his Crimson Giants in 1921, many of the Ex-Collegians stayed loyal to Lindsey. Once Fausch gained the only lease to

Bosse Field Bosse Field is a baseball stadium located in Evansville, Indiana. Opened in 1915, it was the first municipally owned sports stadium in the United States and is the third-oldest ballpark still in regular use for professional baseball, surpassed o ...

, however, the city's only football field, Lindsey and the Ex-Collegians joined the team. During the 1921 season, scheduling issues led to games being cancelled, which resulted in players not being paid. Lindsey established a "Committee of Five", which forced Fausch from his manager position. However, since Fausch had obtained the NFL franchise rights, and was therefore the franchise's owner, he retook his team in 1922. Meanwhile, Lindsey established a new semi-pro team, the Evansville Pros. He played quarterback for the team before it folded after just two games.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsey, Menz 1897 births 1961 deaths Evansville Crimson Giants players Evansville Ex-Collegians players Wabash Little Giants football players People from Boonville, Indiana Players of American football from Indiana