Emmett Edward Barrett (November 7, 1916 – May 2, 2005) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

who played one season with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1901 and is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, which also founded UP's sister school, the University of Notre Da ...

. He wore glasses while playing football.

Early life and college

Emmett Edward Barrett was born on November 7, 1916, in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

. He attended Trinity High School in Sioux City. After high school, his goal was to play

for the

Portland Pilots The Portland Pilots is the nickname for athletics at the University of Portland. The Pilots compete in the West Coast Conference (WCC) at the NCAA Division I level. History The Pilots started to gain attention when Clive Charles began coachi ...

of the

. To save money, he hitchhiked from Sioux City to

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

with only $7. Barrett then played for the Portland Pilots as a

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

from 1937 to 1940. He was on the freshman team in 1937 and the main roster from 1938 to 1940. Barrett was the yearbook art editor and senior class vice president while at Portland as well. He was inducted into the school's athletics hall of fame in 1994.

Professional career

Barrett signed with the

after going undrafted in the

1941 NFL draft The 1941 NFL draft was held on December 10, 1940, at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Bears selected halfback Tom Harmon. The Bears selected 24 players, but forfeited their final fou ...

. Barrett did not play for the Giants in 1941 and instead played for their farm team, the Paterson Panthers of the American Association. He appeared in all ten games, starting three, for the Panthers during the 1941 season. The Panthers finished the year with a 6–2–2 record and lost to the

Wilmington Clippers The Wilmington Clippers were a professional American football team that played from 1937 to 1942, and from 1946 to 1949. They played in the American Association from 1939 to 1941, later returning for the 1946 to 1949 seasons when the league wa ...

in the playoffs by a score of 33–0. He wore jersey number 12 with the Panthers. Barrett was called back up to the Giants in 1942 and played in ten games for them that year. He wore number 11 while with the Giants. He then served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. When he was inducted into the Army in January 1943, it was revealed that his real weight was 168 pounds instead of 193 pounds as listed by the Giants. Hollis Goodrich of ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'' claimed that this made Barrett the smallest lineman in the NFL. Barrett was medically discharged from the Army in 1944. Barrett re-signed with the Giants on August 2, 1944, but did not play in any games for them during the 1944 season. When the Giants advanced to the

1944 NFL Championship Game The 1944 NFL Championship Game was the 12th National Football League (NFL) title game, played on December 17 at the Polo Grounds in New York City, with an attendance of 46,016. The game featured the Green Bay Packers (8–2), champions of the ...

, the team voted to split up their playoff jackpot 40 ways, with 30 players and coaches receiving full shares and ten other Giants personnel receiving half shares. Barrett received a half share.

Personal life

Barrett's brother Gene also played football for the Portland Pilots. Emmett worked in the insurance industry after his football career and also became president of Oregon Polytechnic Institute. He died on May 2, 2005, in

Glasses

Barrett wore glasses while playing football. In 1940, ''The Oregonian'' stated that they were a special type of unshatterable glasses and that he did not wear a caged helmet. However in 1942, he wore a helmet with a face mask while playing for the Giants. In 1943, he was featured in a drawing by cartoonist Thomas P. Paprocki that showed various athletes who wore glasses. In January 1982, Barrett claimed that he was the first NFL player to wear glasses.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Emmett 1916 births 2005 deaths American football centers American football linebackers Portland Pilots football players New York Giants players Players of American football from Sioux City, Iowa 20th-century American sportsmen United States Army personnel of World War II Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Sportspeople with visual impairment American Association (American football) players