On this day in 1903, Duluth Eskimo and national Football League Hall of Fame inductee Walt Keisling was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Perhaps the purest “leatherhead” among the Eskimos—and certainly worthy of their “Iron Men of the North” nickname—Walt Kiesling spent his NFL career both in the trenches and on the sidelines. He was the big, burly man up front, the one leading the charge when Ernie Nevers became a star with the Duluth Eskimos—and when Nevers scored his record 40 points in Chicago. After his tenure with the Eskimos, the hall-of-famer from St. Paul played for Green Bay, the Chicago Cardinals, and the Chicago Bears. After his playing days he coached for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers, taking on the head coaching mantle at least twice (he was also an assistant coach with Green Bay). Dick McCann, the Professional Football Hall of Fame’s first director, said, “Walt Kiesling didn’t just watch pro football grow from the rocky sandlots. He shoved it along the way. He was one of the game’s truly remarkable pioneers.” Read more about Walt Keisling here.

Walt Kiesling. (Image: Public Domain)