Hap Moran
Encyclopedia
Francis Dale "Hap" Moran (July 31, 1901 – December 30, 1994) was a collegiate and professional American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player. He played mainly at halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...

 for Carnegie Tech (1922), Grinnell College
Grinnell College
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S. known for its strong tradition of social activism. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College....

 (1923–1925), the Frankford Yellow Jackets
Frankford Yellow Jackets
The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, though its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets won the NFL championship in 1926...

 (1926), the Chicago Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 (1927), the Pottsville Maroons
Pottsville Maroons
The Pottsville Maroons were an American football team based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1920, they went on to play in the National Football League for four seasons, from 1925–1928...

 (1928), and the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 (1929–1933). When he retired from the NFL in 1933, he held the league records for the longest run from scrimmage (91 yards against the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

 on November 23, 1930) and most yards receiving in a single game (114 yards against the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 on October 15, 1933). His 91-yard run remained a New York Giants record for 75 years until it was broken by Tiki Barber
Tiki Barber
Atiim Kiambu Hakeem-Ah "Tiki" Barber is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft. He played college football at Virginia....

 on December 31, 2005.

High school

Although he eventually made his name in football, Moran was better known in high school for basketball. He was captain of the Iowa All-State team in 1920, and his team from Boone
Boone, Iowa
Boone is a city in and the county seat of Des Moines Township, Boone County, Iowa, United States. It is the principal city of the 'Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area', which encompasses all of Boone County. This micropolitan statistical area, along with the 'Ames, Iowa Metropolitan...

 represented Iowa at the National Interscholastic Tournament at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

, where he was named a High School All-American by Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg was an American athlete and pioneering college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football...

.

Collegiate

He was recruited by Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh primarily for basketball, but also played football. In the 1922 Carnegie–Notre Dame
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...

 game, the Four Horsemen
Four Horsemen (football)
The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame comprised a winning group of American football players at the University of Notre Dame under coach Knute Rockne. They were the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team...

 first formed up as a backfield under the coaching of Knute Rockne
Knute Rockne
Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history...

. Moran would also play against the Four Horsemen in their last game together in 1930, when the Notre Dame All-Stars faced the New York Giants in a charity game which raised $115,000 to benefit New York City's unemployed.

In 1923 Moran returned to Iowa and played football and basketball for Grinnell College
Grinnell College
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S. known for its strong tradition of social activism. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College....

. As a passer his favorite receiver was Morgan Taylor
Morgan Taylor
Frederick Morgan Taylor was an American hurdler, winner of three Olympic medals. Morgan Taylor, from Sioux City, Iowa, competed in both track and field and football at Grinnell College...

, who won the first Gold Medal for the United States in the 1924 Olympics
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...

 in Paris running the 400-meter hurdles.

Professional

In 1926 Moran was hired by Frankford Yellow Jackets' Coach Guy Chamberlin
Guy Chamberlin
Berlin Guy "Champ" Chamberlin was a professional American football player and coach in the National Football League . He played at Nebraska Wesleyan University and then at the University of Nebraska, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He graduated from Nebraska in 1916...

, and his first professional game was against Akron, led by Fritz Pollard
Fritz Pollard
Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard was the first African American head coach in the National Football League . Pollard along with Bobby Marshall were the first two African American players in the NFL in 1920...

, the All-American from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

, one of the few black players in the NFL. Moran scored Frankford's only points of the game and earned a starting spot as halfback. Frankford won the NFL Championship that season, and Moran was their second-highest scorer.

Moran played the first part of the 1927 season with the Yellow Jackets and was then recruited by the Chicago Cardinals, primarily for his kicking skills. He was ranked second in the league for field goals and ninth for points after touchdowns that year. In 1928 he played in the backfield for the Pottsville Maroons
Pottsville Maroons
The Pottsville Maroons were an American football team based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1920, they went on to play in the National Football League for four seasons, from 1925–1928...

 with John McNally
John McNally
John Victor "Blood" McNally was an American football player who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.-Early life:...

, better known as Johnny Blood. After New York Giants' lineman Steve Owen
Steve Owen
Steven Richard "Steve" Owen is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Martin Kemp.-Backstory:Prior to his arrival in Albert Square, Steve owned and managed a number of bars and nightclubs across southern Britain...

 knocked himself unconscious trying to tackle Moran, the Giants invited him to join their team for the last game of the 1928 season. Moran stayed with the Giants for the next five seasons.

In the course of his career Moran started at halfback, tailback, wingback, quarterback, blocking back, defensive back and linebacker.

In 1930 Moran set the NFL record for the longest run from scrimmage, in 1931 he was the Giants' scoring leader, and in 1933 he set the NFL record for the most yards receiving in a single game. After retiring from the NFL he played for the Paterson Panthers of the American Association, and coached the Panthers in 1936. After his football career, he was a buyer for Western Electric
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...

, living in Sunnyside, Queens, New York
Sunnyside Gardens, Queens
Sunnyside Gardens, in the Sunnyside neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, was one of the first developments to incorporate the "superblock" model in the United States...

 and coaching a youth football team there.

External links


Footnotes

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