Professional Football
In February 1923, Goebel refused an offer to become the head football coach at Wichita State University (then known as Fairmount College), saying he planned to enter the engineering profession after graduation. Instead, Goebel opted to play professional football. He played professional football for the Columbus Tigers from 1923-1925, the Chicago Bears in 1925, and the New York Yankees (the football team) in 1926. In his first year in the NFL, Goebel played in all ten of the team's games for the Columbus Tigers and was named to the All-Pro Team. He threw one touchdown pass and caught another. He was credited with eight points scored including two extra points.
In 1924, Goebel was again selected as an All-Pro player with the Tigers, playing in ten games, making two touchdown receptions, and returning a fumble for a touchdown. In all, he was credited with three touchdowns and 18 points in 1924. While playing end for the Columbus Tigers in 1924, Goebel was involved in one of the oddest plays in NFL history. Goebel was the intended receiver of a forward pass, but the ball popped out of his arms and was snatched out of the air by Oscar Knop of the Chicago Bears. Knop began running for the goal line with the ball, but he was running the wrong way toward a safety. After running 30 yards, Knop was caught from behind and tackled by his teammate Ed Healey on the four-yard line.
In 1926, Goebel played for the Yankees alongside Red Grange. After the close of the 1926 football season, he went to Los Angeles where he took a minor role in Grange's latest film. In May 1927, Goebel announced his retirement from professional football. He said he would devote his time to the sporting goods store he operated in Grand Rapids. Goebel had been playing professional football every season since he finished at Michigan.
Read more about this topic: Paul G. Goebel
Famous quotes containing the words professional football, professional and/or football:
“Smoking ... is downright dangerous. Most people who smoke will eventually contract a fatal disease and die. But they don’t brag about it, do they? Most people who ski, play professional football or drive race cars, will not die—at least not in the act—and yet they are the ones with the glamorous images, the expensive equipment and the mythic proportions. Why this should be I cannot say, unless it is simply that the average American does not know a daredevil when he sees one.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)
“Many young girls are ... becoming trained nurses, whose gentle ministrations in the sick-room, skilled touch, patient watchfulness and unwearied vigils, are as great factors in the care of the sick, as are the professional physicians.”
—Lydia Hoyt Farmer (1842–1903)
“...I’m not money hungry.... People who are rich want to be richer, but what’s the difference? You can’t take it with you. The toys get different, that’s all. The rich guys buy a football team, the poor guys buy a football. It’s all relative.”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)