 Leemans in 1939 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 4 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Fullback Halfback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1912-11-12)November 12, 1912 Superior, Wisconsin, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died: | January 19, 1979(1979-01-19) (aged 66) Hillsboro Beach, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Superior (WI) East | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Oregon George Washington (1933–1935) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1936: 2nd round, 18th pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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As a coach: | |||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Alphonse Emil "Tuffy"Leemans (November 12, 1912 – January 19, 1979) was an American professionalfootball player who was afullback andhalfback who played on both offense and defense for theNew York Giants of theNational Football League (NFL). He was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1978 and was named in 1969 to theNFL 1930s All-Decade Team.
A native ofSuperior, Wisconsin, Leemans playedcollege football forOregon's freshman team in 1932 and forGeorge Washington from 1933 to 1935. He was drafted by the Giants in the second round of the1936 NFL draft and played eight years for the Giants from 1936 to 1943. He led the NFL as a rookie with 830 rushing yards and was selected as a first-team All-Pro in1936 and1939. He was also selected to play in thePro Bowl in 1938 and 1941 and helped lead the Giants to the1938 NFL Championship and the1939 and1941 NFL Championship Games.
After his playing career ended, Leemans worked briefly as a backfield coach for the Giants and at George Washington. He also operated a laundry and dry cleaning business and aduckpin bowling alley.
Alphonse Leemans was born in 1912 inSuperior, Wisconsin.[1] His father Joseph Leemans (1887–1979) immigrated from Belgium in 1909 and worked as hoister for the Pittsburg Coal Co. on the coal dock in Superior.[2][3] His mother Hortense (1897–1964) was born in Illinois, the daughter of Belgian immigrants. Leemans had three younger sisters Carolyn, Dorothy, and Doris.[2]
Leemans attended East High School in Superior.[1] In his 1978 speech upon being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Leemans recalled growing up in Superior: "I was a kid who used to work the iron ore boats on vacation from high school. I also worked as a fireman shoveling coal. But I was of hardy, Belgian stock and that early hard work helped me as a football player. I have achieved everything I ever wanted. I am a happy man."[4]
In 1932, Leemans enrolled at theUniversity of Oregon where he was a member of the freshman football team.[5] He then transferred toGeorge Washington University where he was the star of theGeorge Washington Colonials football team from 1933 to 1935. In his three years at George Washington, he rushed for 2,382 yards on 490 carries for an average of 4.86 yards per carry. He also passed for 966 yards and returned 84 punts for 984 yards, an average of 11.7 yards per return.[6]
In the fall of 1935,Wellington "Duke" Mara, son ofNew York Giants ownerTim Mara, was a 19-year old junior atFordham University in New York.[7] As a football enthusiast, the young Mara monitored the sports sections of dozens of out of town newspapers and maintained a clippings file of prospective Giants players.[7] Leemans, then also a junior atGeorge Washington University, had attracted the Duke's attention, so he sent a telegram arranging a meeting and traveled to Washington, DC, to see him.[7] Mara made his pitch to Leemans, convincing him to play professionally for the Giants after graduation.[7]
Signing Leemans would be complicated by the establishment of aplayer draft by National Football League owners at their annual meeting in Philadelphia in February 1936.[7] Whereas previously the acquisition of NFL players had been a free-for-all, subject to the league's roster size limit (25 players in 1936), henceforth potential players would be systematically apportioned by sequential selection. Wellington Mara, still smitten by Leemans' running abilities, persuaded his father to make the little-known player the second round pick of the inaugural1936 draft.[7]
A week after the draft the relationship was formalized when Leemans signed a $3,000 contract to play football for the club.[7] The signing was so impactful that Mara later declared, "If I'm remembered for nothing else, I'd like to be remembered for discovering Tuffy Leemans."[8]
In his first NFL season, Leemans played at thefullback position for the Giants and led the NFL with 830 rushing yards and an average of 69.2 rushing yards per game.[1][9] He also impressed with his defensive play at thesafety position.[10] He was the only rookie to be honored by the NFL as a first-team player on the1936 All-Pro Team.[1][11] After the season ended, Leemans reported that he found it easier to make long gains in the NFL rather than college, citing better blocking in the professional ranks.[12]
Following rumors that he intended to retire from professional football after one season, Leemans signed a contract in August 1937 to return to the Giants.[10] During the 1937 season, Leemans did not have the same level of success as in 1936.Hank Soar took over as the Giants' leading rusher in 1937, and Leemans gained only 429 rushing yards, roughly half his total from the prior year.[13] Despite the reduced offensive output, Leemans continued to garner credit for his overall play and was selected by the NFL and theNew York Daily News as a second-team player on the1937 All-Pro Team.[1]
Leemans also played professional basketball during the off-season, joining theHeurich Brewers inWashington, D.C., after the1937 NFL season.[14]
Leemans continued to be one of the NFL's leading players, receiving either first- or second-team All-Pro honors every year from 1936 through 1942. He received first-team honors in 1936 and 1939 and second-team honors in each of the remaining years.[1] He was also selected to play in thePro Bowl in 1938 and 1941.[1] He ranked second in the NFL in rushing yardage in 1938 with 463 yards and third in 1940 with 474 yards.[1] He also helped lead the Giants to the1938 NFL Championship as well as the1939 and1941 NFL Championship Games.
On December 7, 1941, the Giants celebrated "Tuffy Leemans Day," presenting him with a silver tray and $1,500 in defense bonds.[15] The radio broadcast of the game onWOR was interrupted with an announcement of theJapanese attack on Pearl Harbor,[16] and an urgent announcement was made at thePolo Grounds askingWilliam J. Donovan (wartime head of the Office of Strategic Services) to call Operator 19 in Washington.[15] However, most of the spectators and players at the Polo Grounds remained unaware of the attack until after the game.[16] Leemans' attempts to enlist in the Navy and Army duringWorld War II were rejected on multiple occasions due to defective hearing in one ear caused by a concussion sustained in a football game as well as poor eyesight.[17]
Leemans retired from football after the 1942 season.[18] He signed on as a backfield coach with the Giants in 1943, but shortly before the season started, he opted to return as a player for one final year.[19] He appeared in 10 games during the 1943 season, only one as a starter.[1] He retired again after the 1943 season.
Leemans appeared in 80 NFL games with the Giants from 1936 to 1943. He totaled 3,132 rushing yards on 919 carries (3.4 yards per carry) and 17 rushing touchdowns, 2,318 passing yards and 25 passing touchdowns, 422 receiving yards on 28 receptions, and 339 yards on punt and kickoff returns.[1] Leemans also played on defense.Alex Wojciechowicz, a fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee who played against Leemans, recalled: "Leemans was probably greater on defense than he was on offense. He was a bugger on defense, all over the field, always in on the action."[20]
After his playing career ended, Leemans continued for one year as the Giants' backfield coach in 1944.[21] However, he retired from coaching in August 1945 to devote his time to his laundry business.[22]
He returned to coaching in 1946 as the part-time backfield coach for theGeorge Washington Colonials while continuing to operate his laundry and dry cleaning business.[23]
Leemans also coached football atSt. John's College High School andArchbishop Carroll High School, both in Washington, D. C.[4]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| WonNFL championship | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Y/G | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1936 | NYG | 12 | 4 | 206 | 830 | 4.0 | 69.2 | – | 2 | 4 | 22 | 5.5 | 8 | 0 |
| 1937 | NYG | 9 | 8 | 144 | 429 | 3.0 | 47.7 | – | 0 | 11 | 157 | 14.3 | 18 | 1 |
| 1938 | NYG | 10 | 3 | 121 | 463 | 3.8 | 46.3 | 75 | 4 | 4 | 68 | 17.0 | 45 | 0 |
| 1939 | NYG | 10 | 2 | 128 | 429 | 3.4 | 42.9 | – | 3 | 8 | 185 | 23.1 | 50 | 2 |
| 1940 | NYG | 10 | 2 | 132 | 474 | 3.6 | 47.4 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1941 | NYG | 11 | 11 | 100 | 332 | 3.3 | 30.2 | 26 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1942 | NYG | 8 | 6 | 51 | 116 | 2.3 | 14.5 | 16 | 3 | 1 | -10 | -10.0 | -10 | 0 |
| 1943 | NYG | 10 | 1 | 37 | 59 | 1.6 | 5.9 | 13 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Career | 80 | 37 | 919 | 3,132 | 3.4 | 39.2 | 75 | 17 | 28 | 422 | 15.1 | 50 | 3 | |
| Year | Team | Passing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Lng | Rtg | ||
| 1936 | NYG | 13 | 42 | 31.0 | 258 | 6.1 | 3 | 6 | – | 37.7 |
| 1937 | NYG | 5 | 20 | 25.0 | 64 | 3.2 | 1 | 1 | – | 36.2 |
| 1938 | NYG | 19 | 42 | 45.2 | 249 | 7.1 | 3 | 6 | – | 48.7 |
| 1939 | NYG | 12 | 26 | 46.2 | 198 | 7.6 | 0 | 2 | – | 40.2 |
| 1940 | NYG | 15 | 31 | 48.4 | 159 | 5.1 | 2 | 3 | – | 45.7 |
| 1941 | NYG | 31 | 66 | 47.0 | 475 | 7.2 | 4 | 5 | 44 | 59.8 |
| 1942 | NYG | 35 | 69 | 50.7 | 555 | 8.0 | 7 | 4 | 50 | 87.5 |
| 1943 | NYG | 37 | 87 | 42.5 | 360 | 4.1 | 5 | 5 | 28 | 50.0 |
| Career | 167 | 383 | 43.6 | 2,318 | 6.1 | 25 | 32 | 50 | 50.6 | |
In June 1937, after his great rookie season, Leemans married Theodora Rinaldi at St. Michael's Catholic Church inSilver Spring, Maryland.[24] They remained married for 41 years (until Leemans' death) had two children, Joseph, who died in 1977, and Diane, who passed in 2023.[4][25]
Leemans and his wife lived inSilver Spring, Maryland. Leemans operated aduckpin bowling alley known as Tuffy Leemans' Glenmont Lanes.[26] He also operated a laundry and dry cleaning business in theWashington, D. C., and Silver Spring dating back to and following his years as a football player.[27][17][28] He was also active in theWashington D.C. Touchdown Club and was elected as the organization's president in 1956.[29]
In 1969, Leemans was selected as one of the backs on theNFL 1930s All-Decade Team.[30]
In 1978, Leemans was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame. At the induction ceremony, he was introduced by his high school football coach Peter Guzy. In his speech, Leemans mentioned two of his teammates,Mel Hein, the Hall of Fame center, andLeland Shaffer, who Leemans credited as "my top blocker".[31]
Leemans' weight rose in his later years to 300 pounds from his playing weight of 180 pounds.[4] In January 1979, less than six months after his induction into the Hall of Fame, Leemans died from a heart attack at age 66 at his condominium inHillsboro Beach, Florida.[32][4] He was interred atGate of Heaven Cemetery in Silver Spring.
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