Louis "Rabbit" Weller (March 2, 1904 – April 17, 1979) was a 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 ...

halfback with the

Boston Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football franchise based in the Washington metropolitan area. They are members of the NFC East, East division in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL). ...

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) in 1933. He was a Native American member of the

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...

tribe. He attended

Haskell Institute Haskell Indian Nations University (Haskell or HINU) is a Public university, public tribal university, tribal land-grant university in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1884 as a residential boarding school for Native American children ...

. In 1972, Weller was a charter inductee into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.

Early life

Weller was born in

Anadarko, Oklahoma Anadarko is a city in and the county seat of Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The city is 50 miles (80.5 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. The population was 5,745 at the 2020 census. History Anadarko got its name when its post offic ...

. He was a multi-sport athlete at Arkansas City High School in

Arkansas City, Kansas Arkansas City () is a city in Cowley County, Kansas, United States, situated at the confluence of the Arkansas and Walnut rivers in the southwestern part of the county. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 11,974. Pronunc ...

and then played football for Arkansas City Junior College from 1925 to 1926. During those two seasons, Weller scored 190 total points, which included 28 touchdowns.King, C. Richard (2004). ''Native Americans in Sports'', pg. 320,

M. E. Sharpe M. E. Sharpe, Inc., an academic publisher, was founded by Myron Emanuel Sharpe in 1958 with the original purpose of publishing translations from Russian in the social sciences and humanities. These translations were published in a series of journ ...

. . In 1927, he attended Chilocco Indian School, where he once returned seven punts for touchdowns in one game. After attending Chilocco, Weller was a four-sport athlete at the

. He was the first three-time captain of the Haskell football team, where he scored thirteen touchdowns of 60 yards or more. In 1930, he was selected to the

Knute Rockne Knute Kenneth Rockne (; March 4, 1888 – March 31, 1931) was an American football player and coach at the University of Notre Dame. Leading Notre Dame for 13 seasons, Rockne accumulated over 100 wins and three national championships. Rockne is ...

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n team and the

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second-team. One of Weller's most notable performances was in 1930 against the undefeated Oklahoma A&M Cowboys. In that game, he returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and later returned a punt 95 yards for the winning touchdown in a 13–12 victory. Weller participated in a 1930 charity football game for both teams, representing Chilocco Indian School in the second half and Arkansas City Junior College in the first.

Other sports

Besides football, Weller excelled at other sports, including track and baseball.

James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Scottish-Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United State ...

, who invented the sport of

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

in 1891, called Weller "the most expert dribbler I have ever seen."

Professional career

After college, Weller played two years of professional football. In 1933, he played in the

(NFL) for the

under his former coach at Haskell, William Henry "Lone Star" Dietz, as well as with two other American Indian football players, "Chief" Larry Johnson and John Orien Crow. In 1934, he played in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

for the Tulsa Oilers.

Personal life

After retiring from football, Weller worked for the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

. He died on April 17, 1979, in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

, following a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

he sustained while playing

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

with former teammate and former Commissioner of the

John Orien Crow.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weller, Louis 1904 births 1979 deaths American football halfbacks Boston Redskins players Haskell Indian Nations Fighting Indians football players People from Anadarko, Oklahoma Sportspeople from Arkansas City, Kansas Players of American football from Kansas Players of American football from Oklahoma Native American players of American football Caddo people American Football League (1934) players