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Frank Reagan

Reagan on a 1948 Bowman football card
No. 8, 44, 40
Positions	Safety Punter
Personal information
Born	(1919-07-28)July 28, 1919 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	November 20, 1972(1972-11-20) (aged 53) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	182 lb (83 kg)
Career information
High school	Northeast Catholic (PA)
College	Penn
NFL draft	1941: 3rd round, 22nd overall pick
Career history
Playing
New York Giants (1941,1946–1948) Philadelphia Eagles (1949–1951)
Coaching
Philadelphia Eagles (1952–1953) (Backfield) Villanova (1954–1959) (Head coach)
Operations
Villanova (1957–1961) (Athletic director)
Awards and highlights
NFL champion (1949) NFL interceptions leader (1947) First-teamAll-American (1940) First-team All-Eastern (1940) Second-team All-Eastern (1939)
Career NFL statistics
Interceptions 35 Punts 227 Punting yards 9,288 Punting average 40.9 Stats atPro Football Reference

Francis Xavier Reagan (July 28, 1919 – November 20, 1972) was an American professionalfootball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played professionally for theNew York Giants and thePhiladelphia Eagles during a seven-seasonNational Football League (NFL) career that spanned from 1941 to 1951. Reagan served as the head football coach atVillanova University from 1954 to 1959, compiling a record of 16–36. He was also Villanova'sathletic director from 1957 to 1961.

Born inPhiladelphia, Reagan was a starquarterback anddefensive back atNortheast Catholic High School and led the team to championships in 1935 and 1936. He was voted 1st Team All-Scholastic by thePhiladelphia Bulletin in his senior year.

Reagan then playedcollege football at theUniversity of Pennsylvania. Standing 5'11" and 182 lbs., Reagan was a varsity player duringGeorge Munger's first three seasons as head coach of thePenn Quakers, from 1938 to 1940. Reagan's 135 points scored is still ninth all-time in UPenn history and his 103 points scored as a senior is the second most in one season in over 120 years of Penn football. Reagan had one of the great individual performances of all time againstPrinceton on October 19, 1940,rushing for 200 yards, scoring fivetouchdowns and 31 points in a 46–28 victory atFranklin Field. In a game atMichigan in 1938, Reagan was responsible for 356 total yards, rushing for 85,passing for 188, returningkickoffs for 82 andpunts for 21. Reagan was named a 1st Team All-American Back for the 1940 season. A captain of both the football andbaseball teams, he was awarded the 1941 "Class of 1915 Award" as that member of the senior class who, "most closely approaches the ideal University of Pennsylvania student-athlete". SportswriterGrantland Rice called him "one of the two best running backs in college football", the other beingHeisman Trophy winnerTom Harmon of theUniversity of Michigan.

Reagan was drafted in the third round of the1941 NFL draft by the New York Giants.^[1] After an outstanding rookie season his pro career was interrupted by his military service duringWorld War II. Upon returning to the NFL he led the league in interceptions in 1947. He was traded to the Eagles after the 1948 season and was a big factor in helping the Eagles repeat asNFL Champions in 1949. He played startingsafety and recorded seveninterceptions. He also punted for a 45-yard average and returned punts for 12.7 yards per return and one touchdown. During his pro career Reagan averaged 40.9 yards on 224 career punts. He finished his NFL career in 1951 with 35 interceptions, which led all of football before former teammateEmlen Tunnell passed him the following year.^[2] He also scored six touchdowns on offense and threw a touchdown pass.

Following his retirement as a player and a brief tenure as an assistant coach of the Eagles, Reagan went on to become head coach atVillanova University in 1954. He stayed in that position until 1959. He remained the school's athletic director until 1961 when he went into partnership in aninsurance brokerage firm inNorristown, Pennsylvania.

Reagan died of complications oflung cancer at age 53 in 1972.^[3] He is enshrined in both the Northeast Catholic HS Hall of Fame and the University of Pennsylvania Hall of Fame. In 2000,Philadelphia Daily News sports writer Ted Silary named Reagan as the best Philadelphia area born punter of the 20th century.

• Career statistics fromPro Football Reference · 
• Frank Reagan atFind a Grave

• 1919 births
• 1972 deaths
• American football safeties
• New York Giants players
• Penn Quakers baseball players
• Penn Quakers football players
• Philadelphia Eagles coaches
• Philadelphia Eagles players
• Quantico Marines Devil Dogs football coaches
• Quantico Marines Devil Dogs football players
• Villanova Wildcats athletic directors
• Villanova Wildcats football coaches
• United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II
• United States Marine Corps officers
• Military personnel from Philadelphia
• Players of American football from Philadelphia
• American Roman Catholics
• Deaths from lung cancer in Pennsylvania

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