Chris Cagle (football player)

NFL player
Name=Chris Cagle


ImageWidth=220
DateOfBirth=May 1, 1905
Birthplace=De Ridder, LA, United States
DateOfDeath=December 26, 1942 (age age|1905|5|01|1942|12|26)
Deathplace=New York, NY
College=Louisiana-Lafayette,
United States Military Academy
Position=Halfback, Quarterback
Height_ft=5
Height_in=10
Weight_lbs=174
years=1930-1932
1933-1934
teams=New York Giants
Brooklyn Dodgers
DatabaseFootball=CAGLECHR01
CollegeHOF=20021

Christian "Red" Keener Cagle (May 1, 1905-December 26, 1942) was a professional American football halfback and quarterback from 1930 to 1934, who also was named to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954. [ [http://www.collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=20021 College Football Hall of Fame] ]

College football career

He first starred at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (then named Southwestern Louisiana Institute or SLI) from 1922-1925. In his career at Louisiana-Lafayette, he scored 235 points from touchdowns, extra points and field goals, a school record that lasted until 1989. Besides being the football captain (1925), he also was a star in basketball and track and field sports at Louisiana-Lafayette, where he received a degree in arts and sciences.

Cagle then played college football for four years at the United States Military Academy (Army) 1926-1929. Known as the "Red Thunderbolt of West Point," he was an All-American halfback for the last three years. His longest runs were 75 yards against Yale, 1928; 70 yards against Ohio Wesleyan and 65 yards against Yale, 1929. In four years at Army he scored 169 points, averaged 6.4 yards per attempt in rushing and 26.4 yards on kickoff returns.

Team captain at Army in 1929, he was featured on the September 23 cover of "Time" magazine of that same year. Cagle was noted for playing with the chin strap loose from his helmet, and sometimes without helmet. Sportswriters liked to refer to him as "Onward Christian" because of his ability to advance the ball.

Professional football career

He played professional football for five seasons. He was with the New York Giants from 1930 to 1932. In 1933, he and fellow former New York Giants player John Simms Kelly became co-owners of the NFL's Brooklyn Dodgers franchise. Cagle played for the team in 1933 and 1934. Dan Topping bought Cagle's half of the team in 1934.

Personal life

Born in De Ridder, Louisiana, he was one of eight children, including five brothers and two sisters. Cagle was named after an uncle, who in turn was named after the late Bishop Christian Keener of the Methodist church.

Cagle was forced to resign before graduating from West Point for breaking an Army rule that prohibited cadets from marrying. He had secretly wed Marian Haile, whom he had met at Louisiana-Lafayette.

Cagle died in 1942, at 37 years of age, from a peculiar mishap the day after Christmas (Dec. 26). He was discovered unconscious at the bottom of a Manhattan subway stairwell. According to "The Advertiser" report, "Cagle tripped and fell the full length of a flight of subway steps." ["The Advertiser", December 29, 2004] He died three days later of a fractured skull. At the time of his death he had lived in a Queens apartment house with his wife and was employed by an insurance company.

ources

*"College Football Historical Society", Volume XIII, No. I, November 1999

Footnotes