Doc Baker

Charles "Doc" Baker was an early professional American football halfback for the Akron Indians of the "Ohio League" from 1906-1908. He returned to the team for one last season in 1911. He was the second-ever African American to play professional football, the first being Charles Follis. Baker, earned his nickname, "Doc", while serving as an aide to a physician in Akron, Ohio. He also a target of opponents trying to injure him. Although Baker was never implicated, his football experience was marred by several gambling scandals. According to a 1911 article the Canton Respository, Baker was involved in just about every offensive and defensive play during a game between the Akron Indians and the Canton Professionals (later renamed the Canton Bulldogs in 1915).

Very little is known of his life outside of football. However it is known that he was raised in the Akron Children’s Home, an orphanage, and is believed to have died in the early 1920s.

References

• Horrigan, Joe. "Early Black Professionals". The Coffin Corner (Professional Football Researchers Association). http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/07-An-247.pdf. Retrieved 3 November 2010. 
• Charles K. Ross, Outside The Lines
• Peterson, Robert W. (1997). Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511913-4. http://books.google.com/?id=rCnbhSRZpgIC. 

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