Nathan Schenker (January 27, 1918 – February 10, 2009) was an American football

tackle Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking ...

who played one season in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Rams. He 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 ...

for

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

and went undrafted in . Schenker was born on January 27, 1918, in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. He attended East Technical High School there, before attending Howard College in Homewood, Alabama. Though he did not see action as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

, he played on the

varsity team In most English-speaking countries, varsity is an abbreviation of the word ''university''. In the United States and Canada, the term is mostly used in relation to sports teams. Varsity in the United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, varsity team ...

in 1936. At the school he was a "60 minute man", playing on both sides of the ball during the entire game. He was regarded as a potential Little All-America selection as a senior but was handicapped by a broken hand. He graduated from Howard in 1939 with a degree in teaching. After going unselected in the

1939 NFL draft The 1939 National Football League Draft was held on December 9, 1938, at the New Yorker Hotel in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Cardinals selected center Ki Aldrich. Player selections Round one ...

, Schenker signed a minor league contract with the Columbus Bullies 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. ...

(AFL), appearing in four games. He gained attention from the professional Cleveland Rams, and shortly afterwards signed a contract with them. Wearing number 38, Schenker appeared in four games during the

1939 NFL season The 1939 NFL season was the 20th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, NFL president Joseph Carr died, and Carl Storck was named to replace him. An NFL game was televised for the first time when NBC broadcast the O ...

at the tackle position. He was re-signed for the season, but did not play with the Rams. Instead, he played briefly with the

St. Louis Gunners The St. Louis Gunners were an independent professional football team based in St. Louis, Missouri, that played the last three games of the 1934 National Football League season, replacing the Cincinnati Reds on the league schedule after the Reds' ...

, an independent team. After briefly playing 1940 with St. Louis, Schenker became a high school teacher and football

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

in Alabama. He was drafted to serve in World War II in 1941, and played multiple sports for the Camp Wheeler military teams, leading the Company D Fourth Training Battalion to the camp's softball championship. He later served overseas in Europe as a

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

. He later worked as an office manager for Mar-Kay Cartage and Major Tire. He also was an assistant football coach for

Chagrin Falls High School Chagrin Falls High School is a public high school located in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, United States, an eastern suburb in the Greater Cleveland metropolitan area. The high school's mascot is Mortimer the Tiger. History Chagrin Falls High School issued ...

and Solon High School, and was a bowler. Schenker died on February 10, 2009, at the age of 91.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schenker, Nate 1918 births 2009 deaths Players of American football from Cleveland American football tackles Samford Bulldogs football players Cleveland Rams players