Russ Hathaway was born on this day in 1896 in Ehrmanndale, Indiana. Ehrmandale was a mining community near Terre Haute that is now extinct. You don’t often hear of communities going extinct these days, so it’s pretty obvious that this will qualify as “vintage.”
Hathaway played his college football at Indiana university. He then played eight seasons in the NFL for the Muncie Flyers, Dayton Triangles, Buffalo Bisons, Canton Bulldogs and Pottsville Maroons. He played for the Canton Bulldogs in 1922 when they won the championship and also for the 1925 Pottsville Maroons. The Maroons were stripped of their title. You can click on the links below if you’re interested to find out more about it.
1925 NFL Championship controversy (Wikipedia)
Pottsville, Pa. and Cardinals each claim rights to 1925 NFL title (ESPN)
From tribstar.com: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Vigo County native Russ Hathaway was NFL pioneer
Playing in the 1920s, Hathaway wasn’t pictured on any cards. The only card he is pictured on was from a 1977 set honoring the 1925 Pottsville team.
From Beckett.com: “Reportedly issued in 1977, this standard-size 17-card set features helmetless player photos of the disputed 1925 NFL champion Pottsville Maroons on the card fronts. The pictures are white-bordered and red-screened, with the player’s name, card number, and team name in red beneath each photo. The player’s name, team, and card number appear again at the top of the card back, along with the name of the college (if any) attended previous to playing for the Maroons and brief biographical information, all in red. The set producer’s name, Joseph C. Zacko Sr., appears at the bottom, along with the copyright date, 1977.”
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