Phillip Gregory Nesser born June 6, 1893) was a 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 in the "Ohio League

Ohio League

The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1903 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship . As the name implied, its teams were based in Ohio...

" and the early National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 for the Columbus Panhandles. He was also a member of the Nesser Brothers

Nesser Brothers

The Nesser Brothers were a group of football playing brothers who helped make up the most famous football family in the United States from 1907 until the mid-1920s...

, a group consisting of seven brothers who made-up the most famous football family in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 from 1907 until the mid-1920s.

Phil was primarily a tackle, although he often carried the ball on several plays.

Outside of football, Phil was considered a math genius although he never attended school past the fourth grade. According to his daughter, Phil later taught at Central High School

Central High School (Columbus, Ohio)

Central High School, also known as High School of Columbus and High School of Commerce, was a four-year secondary school . It was a part of Columbus City Schools . The last building was located at 75 South Washington Boulevard in Columbus, Ohio, opened in 1924...

 in Columbus

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

 until the school's administrators found out he did not have a degree and forced him to resign. In addition to football he was a champion hammer throw

Hammer throw

The modern or Olympic hammer throw is an athletic throwing event where the object is to throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle. The name "hammer throw" is derived from older competitions where an actual sledge hammer was thrown...

er.