Paul Daniel Minick (December 17, 1899 – December 22, 1978) was an

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 and coach and film actor.

Early years

Minick was born in 1899 at

Villisca, Iowa Villisca is a city in Montgomery County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,132 at the time of the 2020 census. It is most notable for the unsolved axe mass murder that took place in the town during the summer of 1912. Geography Villis ...

. He attended West High School in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

University of Iowa

Minick enrolled at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

in 1919 and 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 the

Iowa Hawkeyes football The Iowa Hawkeyes football program represents the University of Iowa in college football. The Hawkeyes compete in the West division of the Big Ten Conference. Iowa joined the Conference (then known as the Western Conference or Big Nine) in 1899 ...

teams from 1920 to 1922, including the undefeated

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 ...

and 1922 teams. At the end of the 1922 season, Minick won first-team honors on both the 1922 All-Big Ten Conference football team and the 1922 All-America college football team.

USC coach and Hollywood actor

After graduating from Iowa, Minick moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

where he became an assistant coach for the

1925 USC Trojans football team The 1925 USC Trojans football team was an American football team that represented the University of Southern California (USC) as a member of the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) during the 1925 PCC football season. In its first year under head co ...

. He served as the line coach under head coach Howard Jones who had previously coached Iowa while Minick was a player. While in Los Angeles, Minick also acted in Hollywood movies, including '' College Days'' (1926), ''

One Minute to Play ''One Minute to Play'' is a 1926 American silent film, silent Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Sam Wood and written by Byron Morgan. The film stars Red Grange, Mary McAllister, Charles Stanton Ogle, Wildcat Wilson, George Wils ...

'' (1926), '' Forever After'' (1926), ''

The Poor Nut ''The Poor Nut'' is a 1927 American comedy film directed by Richard Wallace and written by Paul Schofield. It is based on the 1925 play ''The Poor Nut'' by J. C. Nugent and Elliott Nugent. The film stars Jack Mulhall, Charles Murray, Jean Arth ...

'' (1927), and ''

The Drop Kick ''The Drop Kick'' (also known as ''Glitter'' in the UK) is a 1927 silent film directed by Millard Webb written by Katherine Brush about a college football player (Richard Barthelmess). It was one of the early films of John Wayne who was only a ...

'' (1927). He also worked for a time as a gardener and caretaker of

Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...

's estate in Beverly Hills.

Professional football

Minick also played professional football beginning in 1926 with the New York Yankees of the American Football League. He also played for

Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees ...

's all-star professional football team in 1926. He then played three years 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 ...

(NFL), mostly at the

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

position, for the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

(1927) and

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 ...

(1928–1929). He was a member of the 1929 Green Bay Packers that won the NFL championship. In 1929, the ''Green Bay Press-Gazette'' praised his contributions to the club:

Paul is a smart line man and ... gained the distinction of being the Packers' leading guard. ... Minick follows the ball like a hawk. He seems to have a super football sense ... and often would pull out of his position and nail a carrier in his tracks.

Minick continued work in the Hollywood movie business in the off-season while playing for the Packers.

Later years

Minick moved to

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

, in 1940 and worked as an insurance agent. His son, Peter David Minick, died in a car crash in 1957 while in college in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. He died in Springfield in 1978 at age 79.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minick, Paul 1899 births 1978 deaths American football guards Buffalo Bisons (NFL) players Green Bay Packers players Iowa Hawkeyes football players USC Trojans football coaches People from Montgomery County, Iowa Players of American football from Des Moines, Iowa