Ironton Tanks - NFL Thanksgiving Day Game Tradition and Transfer To The Detroit Lions

NFL Thanksgiving Day Game Tradition and Transfer To The Detroit Lions

The Tanks were the originators of what is now the National Football League Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day Game tradition. The Tanks played a game the day after Thanksgiving with the Lombards, a crosstown rival on Friday Nov 26, 1920 winning 26-0 when many people were off due to the holiday. They began the actual string of Thanksgiving Day Games by defeating the Huntington Boosters 12-0 on Thursday Nov 30, 1922. The Tanks continued playing on this national holiday each year thru 1930, which was the Tanks final season. Several Tank players (including Glenn Presnell) continued their football careers by joining the nearby Portsmouth Spartans. They did not continue the annual tradition thru their demise after the 1933 season. The Spartans assets were acquired and moved to Detroit where they were renamed the Lions. Asked by their new owner (G.A. Richards) about ways to improve ticket sales, the former Tanks players (led by Presnell) indicated that in the past (as Tanks) that they always got a good turnout on Thanksgiving Day. This led him to schedule the first Thanksgiving Day Game in Detroit (actually the 10th game of the series). One thing that made the first game in Detroit so notable was arranging NBC to broadcast the game nationally, reaching a larger audience and developing a national clamor for repeats in following years.

Local rivalries
Perhaps more important to Ironton residents at the time were the local rivalries with other cities in the Ohio area, particularly Portsmouth, where the local sentiment was summed up by this quote “ancient and hereditary foes”. Despite being a small town, only about 1/3 the size of Portsmouth, the Tanks are referred to by Carl Becker refers as the dominant team of the era, "In the 1920s, the "famous" Ironton Tanks were the sovereigns of semi-professional football in the upper Ohio Valley, indeed even in the state of Ohio". Other rivals in Ohio were the Ashland Armcos, Dayton Koors, several teams from Cincinnati, Columbus and Akron, but none appeared to have stirred the fans' passion as did the different Portsmouth teams that appeared between 1920 and 1930.

Earle Louis "Greasy" Neale
The most colorful figure to be associated with the Ironton Tanks was their legendary coach Earle Louis Neale, known as Greasy Neale. He is the only person to have coached in the Rose Bowl (1922), won the World Series (Reds vs White Sox, 1919) and won an NFL title (Philadelphia Eagles back to back 1948-49). Greasy insisted his Reds won the scandal-plagued 1919 "Black Sox" Series because of better pitching.

Glenn Presnell
The best player for the Tanks is also controversial, Glenn Presnell. Besides leading the Tanks to victories over the Giants and Bears, guiding the Portsmouth Spartans to the NFL regular season championship in 1932, he helped the Detroit Lions to their first NFL championship in 1935. Not only did he play both sides of the ball, Glenn Presnell held the NFL longest field goal record for 19 years, with a 54 yarder that beat the Green Bay Packers 3-0. He led the NFL in scoring in 1933 with 64 points from TDs, field goals and points after TDs. He graduated from the University of Nebraska as an All-American in 1928 with a Bachelor's degree in Education and was honored with an Alumni award in 2003 at the age of 97. Glenn was inducted into the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame, citing his three Letters as a Cornhusker, leading the nation in total yards as a senior, All-Missouri Valley two times, and twice being NFL All-pro. He was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and named 34th out of Nebraska's top 100 athletes. Interesting trivia is that his wife helped choose the famous powder blue uniforms for the Detroit Lions when the team moved from Portsmouth, Ohio. However, Glenn's memory is challenged by the Lions official site Outside this minor controversy, Glenn and the Lions seemed to have gotten along well. He posed with a football from "Your Friends at the Detroit Lions" crowning him the "LionKing". Many feel his NFL career itself deserved entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, while others have said he was unfairly discriminated against because of his years with the Tanks. An online petition to support his entry to the Football Hall of Fame, in nearby Canton, Ohio, has also attracted attention, Note: Glen has been referenced in several publications as being named an All-American while at Nebraska. In studying the Nebraska football media guide, no individual records other than participantion and team win-loss is recorded for that time frame. The Nebraska media guide does show All-American award winners, and Glenn is not shown as on that list. No effort has been made to confirm directly with any sports officials at the University of Nebraska if this is correct. Also the Wikipedia reference for All-American awards for Glenn's years at Nebraska does not show him being awarded the honor. Again, the total evidence confirming his status in unclear. As evidence of Glenn's outstanding career, it can be shown that his on the field performance both as a Tank, Spartan and Lion were exemplary and it should be noted that several other teams had shown interest in signing him upon the Tanks demise. Indeed Glenns contributions and performance as a starting halfback and safety in his years with the Detroit Lions were key in their becoming 1935 World Champions. Glenn Presnell was honored by the Lions in 1995 at halftime against the Packers as a member of the 60th anniversary of tht 1935 championship by being driven to the 50 yard line in a Ford Model T.

Uniforms
The Tanks uniform was also noteworthy, a distinctive blend of khaki pants and red jerseys, reminiscent of the 49ers today. They were nicknamed Big Red and the Big Red Machine and appear to be the first team to sport this intimidating moniker.

The secrets of their success;
1) Recruiting
The answer to the most intriguing question about the Ironton Tanks, "How could they compete year after year with teams from the NFL and much larger cities?" is found primarily with the leader of the early years Charlton "Shorty" Davies (circled in the picture gallery's newspaper article below) and his teammate at Ohio State, Bill Brooks. The early Tanks typically played without helmets and made fifty dollars a game but sometimes were not paid (F.C. "Dutch" McCarthy, private conversation). However, they were able to attract top players by providing coaching and teaching jobs in the surrounding areas. Charlton "Shorty" Davies coached at Ironton High School. Glenn Presnell taught science at Ironton High School and coached at Russel. Other Tanks taught or coached at Hanging Rock, Pedro, Blackfork, South Point, Chesapeake, Coal Grove, Proctorville, Rome and Raceland.

2) Innovative Offense Although the Tanks operated out of the standard formation of the day, the single wing, they were able to use the pass, in part because of Presnell's threat to run from the tailback position. He credited his superior speed more than quick cuts. The ball was more round than today, which made a passing game even more difficult. Still the Tanks were able to innovate with "looping and angle charges still being used today by teams of the National Football League".