Paul Joseph “Tiny” Engebretsen (July 27, 1910 – March 31, 1979) 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

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

for two seasons for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, Chicago Cardinals, and Pittsburgh Pirates, and 9 years for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. Paul J. Engebretsen was born in

Chariton Chariton of Aphrodisias ( grc-gre, Χαρίτων ὁ Ἀφροδισιεύς) was the author of an ancient Greek novel probably titled '' Callirhoe'' (based on the subscription in the sole surviving manuscript). However, it is regularly referred t ...

, a town in

Lucas County, Iowa Lucas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,634. The county seat is Chariton. The county was formed in 1846 and was named for Robert Lucas, a Governor of the Territory. Geography Acc ...

to Henry J. Engebretsen (1880–1974) and Frankie Ophelia Kridelbaugh (1881–1972). He was named most valuable player of the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

co-champion in 1931 playing at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. Engebretsen had a large presence in his 1932 rookie season with the Chicago Bears, starting at guard and leading the NFL in extra points (10) and attempts (15). He was acquired in a trade with the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

in 1934 and played for nine years in Green Bay. He was an all-league choice on the 1936 and 1939 champion Packer teams, topped the NFL in extra points (18) in 1939 and retired on September 16, 1941, two days after the season opener. In the NFL, Engebretsen scored 100 points on 15 of 28 field-goal tries and 55 of 62 extra-point attempts. After retiring, he became a Packer scout. In 1941, he coached the Buffalo Tigers of the

third American Football League The American Football League, also known retrospectively as the AFL III to distinguish it from earlier organizations of that name, was a professional American football league that operated from 1940–1941. It was created when three teams, the o ...

. Engebretsen was inducted into the

Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...

in 1978

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Engebretsen, Tiny 1910 births 1979 deaths American football guards American football tackles Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) players Chicago Bears players Chicago Cardinals players Green Bay Packers players Northwestern Wildcats football players Pittsburgh Pirates (football) players People from Chariton, Iowa Players of American football from Iowa American people of Norwegian descent