Dave Noble

Dave Noble

Position(s) Fullback/Halfback
Born	July 29, 1900(1900-07-29) Omaha, Nebraska
Died	January 24, 1983(1983-01-24) (aged 82)
Career information
Year(s)	1924–1926
College	Wisconsin, Nebraska
Professional teams
Cleveland Bulldogs (1924–1925) Cleveland Panthers (1926)
Career stats
Rushing yards	N/A
Rushing average	N/A
Rushing TDs	11
Stats at NFL.com
Career highlights and awards
1x All-Pro selection (1925)

David Gordon Noble (July 29, 1900 – January 24, 1983), nicknamed "Big Moose", was an American football running back. He played college football for the University of Nebraska, where he scored the first touchdown in Memorial Stadium history. After his college years, Noble played three seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one in the American Football League (AFL), and was voted to the NFL All-Pro team in 1925.

Career

College

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Noble attended the University of Wisconsin, but he spent most of his college career with the University of Nebraska. Playing for the Cornhuskers from 1921–1923,^[1] he helped the team win three consecutive Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) championships.^[2] Two of Noble's most notable college performances came in 1923. On October 13, the Cornhuskers opened Memorial Stadium with a game against the University of Oklahoma Sooners. In the second half, Noble scored the first touchdown in the new stadium, the first of two touchdowns by him in a 24–0 Nebraska win.^[2] Later in the season, Noble scored two touchdowns in a 14–7 Cornhuskers victory over Knute Rockne's University of Notre Dame team;^[3] it was the Fighting Irish's only loss of the 1923 season.^[4] Noble was named to the 1923 All-MVC team.^[2]

Professional

After turning pro, Noble signed with the NFL's Cleveland Bulldogs for 1924. On October 12, he scored his first NFL touchdown in a Bulldogs win against the Akron Pros.^[5] Two weeks later, he posted three touchdowns in a game against the Rochester Jeffersons.^[5] Playing in all nine of the team's games, and starting in eight, he totalled four rushing and two receiving touchdowns,^[6] helping the 7–1–1 Bulldogs win the NFL championship.^[7] For his performance, Noble was named to the All-NFL second team after the season.^[6] In 1925, Noble earned NFL All-Pro honors after recording three rushing and three receiving touchdowns during the season;^[6] he started all but one game in Cleveland's 5–8–1 season.^[6][8]

The following year, Noble stayed in Cleveland but changed teams, playing for the Cleveland Panthers of the new AFL. In five games,^[9] he scored four rushing touchdowns and caught one touchdown pass.^[10] After a 6–0 loss to the Los Angeles Wildcats on October 31, 1926, the Panthers left the league, unsuccessfully attempting to gain admission into the NFL.^[10] The Bulldogs finished with a final record of 3–2, and Noble was second in the league in rushing touchdowns despite his team's reduced schedule.^[11] It would prove to be Noble's final professional season.

Post-retirement

Following his playing career, Noble became an official and worked for the Big Ten Conference. In later years, he became an executive for an insurance company. In 1972, Noble was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame. He suffered a stroke on January 24, 1983, and died at the age of 82.^[12]

References

1. ^ "Nebraska Football Letterwinners - N". Nebraska Cornhuskers. 2008-03-19. http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=251&SPID=22&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=157657. Retrieved 2008-05-07. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Rohr, Nate (2007-10-09). "This Week in Husker History: NU Moves into New Home". Nebraska Cornhuskers. http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=1265213. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
3. ^ "Top 10 Memorial Stadium games: No. 6, Notre Dame 1923". Lincoln Journal Star. 2007-09-10. http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2007/09/10/huskerextra/football/doc46e4750031a7d410966164.txt. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
4. ^ "Super Seasons" (PDF). Notre Dame Fighting Irish. http://und.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/nd/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/FBRecSuppSuperSeasons. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "1924 National Football League" (PDF). NFLHistory.net. Internet Archive. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. http://web.archive.org/web/20070929111237/http://nflhistory.net/linescores/pdf/1924.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-25. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d} "Dave Noble Statistics". Pro Football Reference. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/N/NoblDa20.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
7. ^ "1924 NFL Standings, Stats and Awards". Database Football. http://www.databasefootball.com/leagues/leagueyear.htm?yr=1924&lg=nfl. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
8. ^ "1925 NFL Standings, Stats and Awards". Database Football. http://www.databasefootball.com/leagues/leagueyear.htm?yr=1925&lg=nfl. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
9. ^ "Dave Noble". Database Football. http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=NOBLEDAV01. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
10. ^ ^{a b} "1926 American Football League" (PDF). NFLHistory.net. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. http://web.archive.org/web/20070929110931/http://nflhistory.net/linescores/pdf/1926a.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-25. 
11. ^ "1926 AFLG Standings, Stats and Awards". Database Football. http://www.databasefootball.com/leagues/leagueyear.htm?yr=1926&lg=aflg. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
12. ^ "Nebraska Great Dies". Star-Banner (Associated Press). 1983-01-25. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_pYTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5gUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2739,4575192&dq=dave+noble&hl=en. Retrieved 2009-12-26. 

Persondata
Name	Noble, Dave
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1900-07-29
Place of birth
Date of death	1983-01-24
Place of death