Bobby Marshall

Discuss candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the PFRA's Hall of Very Good
Post Reply
User avatar
TanksAndSpartans
Posts: 1153
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:05 am

Bobby Marshall

Post by TanksAndSpartans »

Here is a recent trivia question from another board I frequent:

Jerry Rice holds the NFL record for most receiving yards after the age of 40 with 2,509. Who is second on the list?

The official answer to the question was:

2) Tom Brady - 6 yards

My answer was:

Bobby Marshall. He had at least 2 catches for 34 yards at the age of 40 for the NFL's Rock Island Independents.

Here’s a good article about him:

https://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryM ... 58-174.pdf

I had known of his association with the Minneapolis Marines from McClellan's book, but had not heard of the “Sunday Football League of Minnesota" (consisting of the St. Paul’s National Guards, Stillwater Football Team, Deephaven Beavers, Ramblers, Deans, and New Prague Seals) which the article states Marshall helped organize. Anyone else heard of this league?

I think Marshall is an interesting case because the fact he was playing outside the Ohio League means he wasn’t regularly playing against top pro competition. He was already 30 when his association with the Minneapolis Marines began in 1910. One thing I’ve always felt was a good proxy for a player’s talent was whether he was recruited by other teams and Marshall was recruited to play for the Rock Island Independents. He was finally recognized as an NFL All-Pro in 1920.

I think it would be interesting to do a pro football based article on him - try to build something like a PFR card to document his seasons, games played, what position, touchdowns, etc. I think he'd be a worthy HOVG nomination. I don't recall seeing him on the ballot so far.
User avatar
TanksAndSpartans
Posts: 1153
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:05 am

Re: Bobby Marshall

Post by TanksAndSpartans »

Post Reply