Guy Thomas "Zeke" Roberts (May 10, 1900 - June 8, 1993) was a professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player in the early

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) and the first American Football League (AFL). He played for three pro teams over the course of two years. In

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

he played with the

Canton Bulldogs The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football Lea ...

in the NFL and the

Cleveland Panthers The Cleveland Panthers were a professional American football team. They were an independent team founded in 1919 from the remains of the Youngstown Patricians. The Panthers played, with various degrees of success, continuously from 1919 and even ...

in the AFL. He played the following season with the NFL's

Pottsville Maroons The Pottsville Maroons were an American football team based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in the northeastern part of the state. Founded in 1920, they played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1925 to 1928. In 1929 they relocated to Bost ...

. Prior to his professional career, Roberts 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 ...

for the

Iowa State Cyclones The Iowa State Cyclones are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Iowa State University, located in Ames. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams (6 men's and 1 ...

College football

Roberts played college football at Iowa State. He played alongside

Jack Trice John G. Trice (May 12, 1902 – October 8, 1923) was an American college football player who became the first African-American athlete for Iowa State College. Trice died due to injuries suffered during a game against the University of Minnesota ...

, who became the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

athlete at the school. He was also on the field during an October 6, 1923 game between Iowa State and

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. It was during that game that Trice received several injuries that led to his death two days later. Roberts also played in a one professional game, under an alias, while still a student at Iowa State. Following the end of the Cyclones 1924 season, he and two other players were asked to play a post-season game for which they would be paid. During the game, the Iowa State players realized that some of their opponents were from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. Roberts later stated that he still had one year of eligibility on the men's basketball team and was fearful of being caught. Roberts played four years at Iowa State, but did not graduate.

Professional football

In the summer of 1926, Guy was living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. It was then that he received word from the NFL's

regarding him playing with the club that upcoming season. Roberts drove from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Pottsville, Pennsylvania Pottsville is a city and the county seat of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,346 at the 2020 census, and is the principal city of the Pottsville, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies along the wes ...

, on a stripped down

Model T Ford The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. Th ...

. While en route to Pottsville he stopped in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

to see his future wife. While in Cleveland, he met with the manager of the Cleveland Panthers, who were a part of the upstart American Football League. The offered Guy $150 to play for them, which was more that what the Maroons were offering, and he accepted. However, the league folded after only a few games, and Guy returned to California. As soon as he got back to Los Angeles, the NFL's Canton Bulldogs called Guy with an offer and he soon joined the team and played the remainder of the 1926 with the Bulldogs, alongside

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...

and Pete "Fats" Henry. In September 1927, Guy was on Ohio to prepare for his October 1 wedding. It was then that he again received word from Pottsville Marrons asking him to play for the club for the upcoming season. Roberts accepted and he played for the Pottsville Maroons for the 1927 season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Guy 1900 births 1993 deaths Players of American football from Iowa Iowa State Cyclones football players Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball players Canton Bulldogs players Cleveland Panthers players Pottsville Maroons players American men's basketball players