George Washington "Tuffy" Conn (February 22, 1892 – August 2, 1973) 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 in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

for the Cleveland Tigers and the

Akron Pros The Akron Pros were a professional football team that played in Akron, Ohio from 1908 to 1926. The team originated in 1908 as a semi-pro team named the Akron Indians, but later became Akron Pros in 1920 as the team set out to become a charter mem ...

of the American Professional Football Association (renamed 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 ...

in 1922). Conn won the first AFPA-NFL title that season with the Pros.

College years

Before playing professional football, Conn 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 ...

at Oregon Agricultural College (now called

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

). In 1916, under coach

E. J. Stewart Edward James "Doc" Stewart (January 26, 1877 – November 18, 1929) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He was also the founder, and player-coach of the Massillon Tigers professio ...

, Conn ran for a record 103 yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

off of a

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

recovery. Conn left the Aggies after his freshman year and transferred to Penn. There he continued to play football for the Quakers.

World War I

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Conn was stationed at Camp Crane in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

to train as part of the U.S. Army Ambulance Corps (USAAC) before deploying to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. While in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, he played on the "Usaacs" football team with future notable professional players

Brooke Brewer Edward "Untz" Brooke Brewer (1894–1970) was an American athlete. Brewer played two seasons of professional football with the Cleveland Indians and the Akron Pros in the National Football League (NFL). He was considered one of the best high schoo ...

and

Carl Beck Carl Linnwood Beck (August 8, 1897 – April 16, 1963) was a professional football player from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After attending high school, Beck attended the West Virginia University, Bucknell University and Lafayette College. He made ...

."The Usaacs Are Coming!"
''

Outing Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

'', p. 38, 1918.

Coach

Conn was also the coach of the 1920 football squad at

John Carroll University John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3, ...

. During his one season with the college, the team compiled a 4–2 record.

Post football

Conn later moved to

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

and became a successful

real estate agent A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

and a member of the prestigious Pasadena Athletic Club.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conn, Tuffy 1890s births 1973 deaths American football halfbacks Akron Pros players Cleveland Tigers (NFL) players John Carroll Blue Streaks football coaches Oregon State Beavers football players Penn Quakers football players United States Army personnel of World War I People from Hebron, Illinois Sportspeople from Pasadena, California Players of American football from Pasadena, California