Gerald Richard Tuttle (March 6, 1926 – April 25, 2006) 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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who played in the

Ontario Rugby Football Union The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league comprising teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded on Saturday, January 6, 1883, and in 1903 it became the first major competition to ado ...

and

Western Interprovincial Football Union The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. With a few exceptions, a senior men's football championship has been contested in Western Canada since 1911 ...

. 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 ...

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

Early life and college

Gerald Richard Tuttle was born on March 6, 1926, in

Brady Lake, Ohio Brady Lake is an unincorporated census-designated place and former village (United States)#Ohio, village in Portage County, Ohio, Portage County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,222 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Incor ...

. He attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in

Kent, Ohio Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County, Ohio, Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 28,215 at the 2020 United States ...

. He lettered for the

Kent State Golden Flashes The Kent State Golden Flashes are the athletic teams that represent Kent State University. The university fields 19 varsity athletic teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division I, Division I level with footba ...

from 1948 to 1949.

Professional career

Tuttle started seven games at quarterback for the

Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers The Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers were a Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario and a member of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, a league that preceded the Canadian Football League. Spanning three decades, they appeared in four Grey Cup ...

of the

(ORFU) in 1950, earning ORFU All-Star honors. He then played in eight games, starting seven, in 1951 and eight games starting six, in 1952. He appeared in 12 games for the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen of the ORFU during the 1953 season. Tuttle played in 11 games for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

of the

during the team's inaugural season in 1954, completing 70 of 148 passes (47.3%) for 991 yards, four touchdowns, and 15 interceptions while also scoring a rushing touchdown and punting twice for 91 yards. He also fumbled five times.

Coaching career

Tuttle also spent time as a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

during the 1950 and 1951 seasons with the Balmy Beach Beachers and the 1953 season with the Dutchmen.

Personal life

Tuttle 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 ...

. He died on April 25, 2006, in

Ravenna, Ohio Ravenna is a city in Portage County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 11,323 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located east of Akron, Ohio, Akron. Formed from portions of Ravenna Township, Portage Co ...

References

External links

Stats Crew profileCoaching history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuttle, Jerry 1926 births 2006 deaths Sportspeople from Kent, Ohio American football quarterbacks Canadian football quarterbacks Players of Canadian football from Ohio Kent State Golden Flashes football players Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers players BC Lions players Player-coaches Players of American football from Ohio People from Portage County, Ohio Coaches of Canadian football United States Army personnel