Cliff Battles
- Boston Braves (1932 )
- Boston Redskins (1933-1936)
- Washington Redskins (1937 )
- 6x All-Pro selection ( 1932-1937 ) 1 2 team
- NFL 1930s All- Decade Team
- College Football Hall of Fame (1955 )
- Pro Football Hall of Fame (1968 )
- NFL Champion (1937 )
- Memorial List of top 70 Redskins
Clifford " Cliff" Franklin Battles ( born May 1, 1910 in Akron, Ohio, USA, † 28 April 1981 in Clearwater, Florida), nicknamed " Gip ", was an American American football player and coach in the National Football League ( NFL). He was the first running back NFL history to score more than 200 yards in a game space gain.
Playing career
College
Battles visited in his home town high school, where he played American football. After finishing school, he studied from 1928 to 1931 at West Virginia Wesleyan College. In addition to football, he played basketball, baseball and tennis. Also known as track and field athlete, he was active. For his college football team he ran normally as a halfback, but also played at other positions. In 1930 he was able to achieve seven touchdowns for his team. In 1931, he was able to increase that number to 15, seven of which alone he scored in a game. Battles was in college never an All-Star status, even though he has won several awards in all sports from his college. Battles was still courted by scouts of various professional football teams.
Pro football player
In 1932 Battles Awarded Contract from the Portsmouth Spartans and the New York Giants. Both teams offered him a salary of $ 150 per game. Then he offered the Boston Braves $ 25 more, he signed with the newly formed team of Boston. In 1933 he was able to increase his income to 2,750 U.S. dollars, equivalent to an average of $ 230 per game. Battles was in Boston players from the later a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Turk Edwards, who was to him as a offensive tackle free block the way into the opponent's end zone. Battles was an extraordinary faster player who was difficult to control by the opposing defense. Had his teammates blocked the way through the enemy defensive line free, he was no longer einholbar.
The Braves were a year later renamed the Redskins and were forced before the 1937 season to Washington, DC to move, as their annual loss was $ 100,000. In 1936 the team was supplemented with the end Wayne Millner, who acted as another blocker of battles and was later taken up also in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In the same year the Redskins were able for the first time to move into the NFL Championship game, but the Green Bay Packers was beaten with 21:6. Battles was injured early in the game and therefore could not prevent the defeat of his team.
After moving the team to Washington Redskins managed to the commitment of Sammy Baugh, who was to lead as quarterback the fortunes of the team from now and like many of his teammates was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Baugh and Battles harmonized excellently. They succeeded with the team in 1937 to move into the final. The champion finally won with a 28:21 victory against the Chicago Bears. Battles could score a touchdown in the game.
Battles put on numerous season records. So he scored as a rookie 576 yards extra space in one season, 1937, he scored again this season record - this time with 874 yards. In 1933 he was able to achieve an average of 5.4 yards per run. In 1933 he was able to achieve 215 Yards space gain by running play in a game against the Giants and was the first player in the NFL who could exceed the 200 yard mark in a game.
Immediately after the 1937 season, there was between the owners of the team and Cliff Battles to a controversial debate about its future payment. Like his teammate Sammy Baugh pointed out in an interview years after the End of career, Battles demanded a payment of $ 3,000 per season. He would have boosted his income by $ 250. Baugh went on to say that the Redskins were not willing to pay the best running back the league the " ridiculous " fee of 250 U.S. dollars. Battles ended his playing career and was with an annual income of U.S. $ 4000 an assistant coach at Columbia University.
Coaching career
Battles was at Columbia University until 1943 worked the last two years as coach of the basketball team. After his military service with the United States Marine Corps, he was two years head coach of the Brooklyn Dodgers, a team that had settled in the All-America Football Conference.
After the NFL
Until his retirement was Battles distributor of General Electric. He sat down to rest in 1979 and died after a heart attack. Battles was buried in Rockville. Cliff Battles was married and had two daughters and six grandchildren.
Honors
Battles was six times elected to the All- Pro. He is a member of the NFL 1930s All- Decade Team in the College Football Hall of Fame, in the West Virginia Hall of Fame, in the Hall of Fame his college and in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His hometown named a street after him.