Remembering the Ironton Tanks
by Jim Ridgeway
Ironton, a small city in Southern Ohio, was home of the Ironton Tanks. The Tanks started play in 1919 and finished its last season in 1930. It left a football record matched by few clubs. In twelve seasons, the Tanks compiled an overall record of 88-17-15. The final season of 1930 was filled with gridiron achievements that many NFL teams would love to forget.
In its first few seasons, the Tanks utilized local talent with a splash of recruits. With the construction in 1926 of a stadium featuring covered bleachers, the local boosters set their eyes on the best talent money could buy. The Tanks would pay players about the same money as NFL teams, but toss in full-time teaching jobs at local high schools.
This is a photo of the Tanks' scoreboard at Beechwood.
The biggest recruit in 1928 was Glenn Presnell. Presnell was an all-American at Nebraska and wanted a career in education. The Tanks found Presnell a teaching job at Ironton High School that paid $1,600.00. Presnell’s contract with the Tanks paid $150.00 for each game and added another $400.00 to his teaching contract. In comparison, Presnell only received $4,000.00 from the Detroit Lions following his All-Pro season in 1933.
Glenn Presnell
In 1930, the Tanks found a seasoned coach for its collection of college stars. Earl “Greasy” Neale had coached a Rose Bowl team. Neale had a reputation as both an innovator and disciplinarian.
As Presnell recalled in a 2002 interview, “With Greasy at the head of us, everybody put out a little more.”
Nearby Portsmouth, OH provided a late addition to the Tanks’ 1930 squad. The Portsmouth Spartans, a member of the NFL, surprisingly cut Keith Molesworth. Molesworth provided the Tanks with another offensive threat.
The Tanks played three NFL members in 1930. The Portsmouth Spartans, New York Giants, and Chicago Bears were on the schedule. The Tanks would post victories against each of those teams. However, the Spartans managed to win two of its three meetings against nearby Ironton.
While at that time any win against Portsmouth was cherished, it has been the victories over the Giants and Bears that locals recall today. The two games against NFL powers were played on a neutral field. Redland Field in Cincinnati hosted both games in order to lure its own NFL franchise.
On November 11th, the Tanks’ defense faced its biggest test of the season. Benny Friedman, the legendary passer for the New York Giants, brought his aerial circus to Cincinnati. Friedman was interviewed on WLW radio and even held a forward passing clinic before the game against the Tanks.
Back in Ironton, the city was excited about the contest. It was a chance to take on one of the finest squads in the NFL. Only the Green Bay Packers held a better NFL record that season. Special trains filled with excited fans exited Ironton the morning of the game.
While 10,000 fans were expected, rain held down the crowd as newspapers reported an attendance closer to 5,000. Even with the rain, the playing field was described as being in excellent shape.
The crowd expected to see the Giants display its forward passing attack. However, many of Friedman’s passes resulted in less than five yards. The Giants completed only 13 of 22 passes for 131 yards. Surprisingly, the Tanks completed 14 of 27 passes for 203 yards.
On the ground, Presnell’s 32-yard run was the longest dash on the day. The Giants produced 139 yards on 43 attempts. Ironton was held to 105 yards on 29 carries.
The Tanks blew some early scoring chances. The first half saw only one score. Hap Moran tossed a touchdown pass for New York in the second quarter and subsequently missed the extra point. At halftime, the Tanks trailed by just six points.
Presnell’s strong right arm and shifty legs produced the Tanks first scoring drive. Presnell took off around right end for 32 yards. With the ball on the Giants 31-yard line, Presnell heaved a long pass that George Mitchell caught as he crossed the goal for a Tanks touchdown. The extra point was missed.
With the game tied, Friedman utilized short passes and keepers to move the ball down the field. With the aid of a penalty that placed the ball on the Tanks one, Len Sedbrook took the ball in to give the Giants a lead.
Trailing 12 to 6 in the fourth quarter, the Tanks needed the ball back. After completing a 20-yard pass that moved the ball into Tanks territory, Friedman tossed one into the hands of Presnell who stepped out at the 50-yard line. However, the Tanks could not mount a drive and punted the ball back to the Giants.
The Giants took over late in the fourth quarter at its 18-yard line with a chance to run out the clock. The Tanks needed a defensive stop to avoid the loss. The Tanks’ defense swarmed the Giants. After three plays netted a loss of 12 yards, New York had no other option but to punt the ball back to Ironton.
Presnell fielded the New York punt and returned it to the Giants 27-yard line before stepping out of bounds. By stepping out, Presnell preserved the final three seconds on the game clock.
The Tanks had time for one more play. Presnell took the snap and faded back to about the 40-yard line. With time expiring, Presnell heaved the ball into the hands of Gene Alford to tie the game. The Tanks converted the extra point to leave the Queen City as victors over the NFL’s metropolitan power.
The game was a highly charged event. The Tanks and Giants played a physical game. One New York player was ejected for slugging. Ironton’s Joseph “Phoney” Smith sported a black eye after his 60 minutes of action.
The Cincinnati Commercial Tribune ran a story applauding the quality of professional football exhibited by the Giants and Tanks. The sportswriter lauded the passing of Presnell.
“Presnell appeared a better passer than Friedman for on several occasions he broke away from tacklers and faked drives at the line, only to step back and pass with three or four of the Giants surrounding him.”
The Tanks had little time to celebrate as the squad returned to Cincinnati on Sunday, November 23rd to face the mighty Chicago Bears. Head coach Ralph Jones guided the team to a third place finish in the NFL that season. Four future members of the Professional Football Hall of Fame would dress for the Bears that day. The Bears featured a backfield as good as any in the history of professional football. The legendary Harold “Red” Grange anchored the ground attack. Bronko Nagurski, a powerful rookie running back, provided a real challenge for tacklers. The offensive line was anchored by its center, George Trafton. The left side of the line was strong with William Roy “Link” Lyman at tackle.
The game produced a record crowd for football in the Queen City. A crowd in excess of 10,000 was reported by the newspapers. Special trains again brought fans from Ironton to Cincinnati. Hundreds of fans from nearby Portsmouth also boarded special trains. The trains out of Portsmouth contained more than just curious spectators. The players and coaching staff of the Portsmouth Spartans also made the excursion in order to scout the Tanks.
Photo of the Tanks playing the Bears at Redland Field
Presnell was nursing a badly sprained ankle and it was a last minute decision whether he would play. Neale taped the ankle and decided Presnell looked good enough in warm-ups to start.
Presnell’s ankle did not prevent him from scoring the game’s first touchdown. Early in the first quarter, Presnell scored on a short run to give the Tanks a 6 to 0 advantage.
After mounting a nice drive, the Bears turned the ball over on downs. The Tanks’ offense took over on its 12-yard line. Presnell took off around the right end for an exciting 88-yard touchdown run. Presnell eluded Grange, the Bears safety, on his way to his second touchdown in the first quarter.
The Bears tried to get its offense going behind the running of Grange. With Joe Gembis and Dick Powell anchoring Ironton’s defense, Chicago found little running room. Taking advantage of a fumble by the Bears, Molesworth scored on a 12-yard run early in the second quarter to give the Tanks a 19-point advantage.
Chicago finally scored on a 1-yard run by Joe Lintzenich. The Bears headed to the locker area trailing the upstart Tanks by 12 points.
In the third quarter, the Bears threatened the Tanks for the last time. Chicago made the score 19 to 13 behind a 40-yard touchdown pass from Carl Brumbaugh. However, the Bears wasted another scoring opportunity in the third quarter when Grange fumbled. Mitchell recovered the ball on the Bears 45-yard line.
Ironton took advantage of the turnover. Presnell’s 35-yard pass to Molesworth set up the game’s final score. Molesworth finished the scoring drive with a short run around left end. Gembis made the kick and the Tanks had a 26-13 advantage with a little over a quarter to play.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Presnell exited the field to a standing ovation. Presnell had earned the rest of the day off. His 88-yard scoring run highlighted an outstanding individual performance. With two touchdowns, over 100 yards rushing, a 40-yard kickoff return, and a nice interception return to his credit, Presnell had an incredible game on his taped ankle.
The Cincinnati Enquirer covered the game and reported that Grange was off form.
“Grange, entering the game after Ironton scored its first touchdown, showed little, if any, of the ability that marked him as one of the greatest athletes of the gridiron.”
Grange fumbled the ball away and tossed two interceptions. He also failed to score in the game. While Nagurski only had a couple of carries, Grange had numerous carries and simply failed to break any long runs. The Tanks’ defense often held Grange to little or no gain.
The Ironton Evening Tribune provided a detailed summary of every play. According to the paper, Grange had carries for 6, 13, 1, 0, 10, 4, 4, 1, 1, 3, 0, and minus 13 yards. The Bears gained most of its yards on the ground with backs other than Grange and Nagurski carrying the pigskin.
A writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer offered an opinion on the game. “Whether the Bears were fatigued from their 13 to 6 win over the Frankfurt Yellow Jackets Saturday, or whether the Tanks simply were too good, remains for your solution, but from general appearances it was just too much Powell, Presnell and Molesworth for “Red Grange and company.”
The 26 to 13 win over the Bears only fueled the Tanks’ ambitions. Despite losing on Thanksgiving to the Spartans at Portsmouth’s ice-covered field, management eagerly sought another big game before calling it a season. The Tanks tried to negotiate a game at Chicago against the Cardinals to no avail.
It was still a football season to celebrate in Ironton. The Rotary Club held an appreciation dinner on December 1st for the Tanks at the Hotel Marting.
Following dinner, a reception was held at the Marlow Theatre. Admission to the reception was 75 cents. Proceeds from the reception assisted the community’s needy that winter.
At the reception, fans presented Earl Neale with a billfold containing a 100 dollar bill as a token of appreciation. As reported by the Ironton Evening Tribune, Neale immediately gave credit to his players.
“They gave everything they had and they gave me in the way of loyalty and fighting spirit everything that one man could give another.”
Neale concluded his speech by stating that the Tanks would get first claim on his services if he coached a professional team next year. However, wire reports in the morning carried the sad news that Neale was named head coach at West Virginia University.
Still, fans in Ironton remained optimistic about the Tanks’ future. However, the world economy was in a downward spiral and signs of the Great Depression filled the newspapers. Yet, the year of 1930 ended with the expectation that the Tanks would be back in 1931.
Realistically, Ironton was simply too small of a city to support the ambitious Tanks in a good economy. Plus, scheduling games as an independent was always an obstacle for the Tanks. Outside of the NFL, few teams existed that could compete against the Tanks. Membership in the NFL was not feasible due to Ironton’s size and proximity to Portsmouth.
Without sufficient funds to retain its roster, the Tanks departed for greener pastures. Many found a home in the NFL. Presnell and several of his teammates joined the Portsmouth Spartans for the 1931 season. Presnell became an All-Pro in the NFL and won a title with the Detroit Lions in 1935. Molesworth had a nice career with the Chicago Bears. Neale coached the Philadelphia Eagles to two NFL titles before his induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Despite wins over three NFL squads in 1930, it can be argued that the Ironton Tanks never received its proper place in the annuals of professional football. Today, the games against the Bears and Giants are frequently listed as exhibitions. However, period newspapers tell the full story.
Maybe the biggest shadow over the Tanks is the semi-professional label. While the Tanks began as a semi-professional squad, a national recruiting effort helped the Tanks field a solid professional type club by 1930. Low NFL salaries, the absence of a college draft, and the instability of professional football helped the Tanks sign college stars from major programs.
How good was the 1930 edition of the Ironton Tanks?
Pro Football: Once a Small Town Sport was a 1984 television documentary on the early days of professional football. Sal Mielziner, a lineman for the New York Giants in 1930, provided his thoughts on the Tanks for the documentary.
“They were a good club, a very good team. They could have given anybody in the NFL a run for their money.”
Special thanks to Jim Kennedy, Paul O’Neill, and Bob Vaughn for their assistance with this article.
Originally published in Gridiron Greats magazine (Winter 2004) www.gridirongreats.net
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* George Halas, another Pro Football Hall of Fame member, was also in the Bears dressing room at Redland Field. Halas was co-owner of the Bears in 1930.
* The term 'exhibition' does not appear in any period newspaper account of the Tanks' victories over the Bears and Giants. The games were described years later as 'exhibitions'. By using the term 'exhibition', revisionist historians have downplayed the Tanks wins over the Bears and Giants. In that era, many NFL squads played teams outside the league in order to pay the bills. The most accurate description of such contests remains 'non-league' games; not exhibitions.
* From 1912 to 1934, Redland Field was the home of baseball's Cincinnati Reds. The stadium's name was changed when Powell Crosley purchased the baseball team. Crosley Field continued to house the Reds baseball team until June of 1970. Crosley Field was demolished in 1972.
* The Ironton Tanks played only two NFL squads prior to the 1930 season. In 1925, the Canton Bulldogs visited and left with a 12 to 0 win. In 1926, the Kansas City Cowboys played at Beechwood. The game ended in a scoreless tie.
Ironton Tanks vs. NFL
1925 (H) Canton Bulldogs 12 Ironton Tanks 0
1926 (H) Kansas City Cowboys 0 Ironton Tanks 0
1930 (H) Portsmouth Spartans 7 Ironton Tanks 6
(A) Ironton Tanks 16 Portsmouth Spartans 15
(at Redland Field) Ironton Tanks 13 New York Giants 12
(at Redland Field) Ironton Tanks 26 Chicago Bears 13
(A) Portsmouth Spartans 12 Ironton Tanks 0
* While many fans know the name Tanks, the team was popularly referred to as "the Big Red". That name was based on the Tanks' uniform colors.
* The photo below depicts an ash tray that was made by the local Dayton Malleable. It was presented to those in attendance at the first Tanks reunion.
Tanks reunion ash tray
Glenn Presnell and the Ironton Tanks
Presnell joins the Ironton Tanks
Historic Tanks Memorial Stadium
All photos are the property of Bob Vaughn & may not be reproduced without permission.
Copyright Bob Vaughn 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006. All rights reserved.
Home Meet Bob Pictorial Tour of Ironton Pictures of Events
Ironton Fighting Tigers News and Commentary Ironton Tanks
Website Feedback Bob's favorite links Contact Bob Vaughn