Perry Scott
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Leonard Perry Scott Jr. (August 27, 1917 – April 4, 1988) was an
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 and coach. He played college football for Muhlenberg from 1937 to 1940 and professional football for the
Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...
in 1942 and the Bethlehem Bulldogs from 1947 to 1949. After his playing career ended, he coached high school football in
Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...
.


Early years

Scott was born in 1917 at
East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 69,612, an increase of 5,342 (+8.3%) from the 2010 United States ...
. Raised in the Basking Ridge section of
Bernards Township, New Jersey Bernards Township () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 27,830, an increase of 1,178 (+4.4%) f ...
, he attended
Bernards High School Bernards High School is a comprehensive four-year regional public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school is part of the Somerset Hills Regional School Distr ...
in
Bernardsville Bernardsville (Melisurgo, Len NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, June 23, 2017. Accessed December 1, 2024. "Same goes with the neighboring borough of Bernardsville. (It should be pronounced BERN-ards-vil.)") is the northernmost borough in Somerset C ...
, and played college football at
Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German pat ...
from 1937 to 1940."Lt. L. P. Scott is Honored Again; Basking Ridge Young Man Receives Third Oak Leaf Cluster To His Air Medal."
''Bernardsville News'', August 31, 1944. Accessed June 5, 2023, via
Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...
. "First Lt. Perry Scott, son of Leonard P. Scott, Basking Ridge, pilot of a B-24 Liberator, has been awarded a third Oak Leaf Cluster to the Air Medal.... He is a graduate of Bernards High School, Bernardsville, and of Muhlenherg College, Allentown, Pa. He was prominent in football and various other athletics during his high school and college days."


Professional football and military service

He was selected by the
Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...
with the 135th pick of 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 ...
. He appeared in seven NFL games as an end and tackle for the Lions during the 1942 season. Scott served in the Army Air Corps 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 ...
. During the war, he flew
B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...
bombers. He flew 31 combat missions in Europe and attained the rank of major. After the war, he played professional football in the American Football League as an end for the Bethlehem Bulldogs from 1947 to 1949.


Later years

Scott married Emma V. Marsden in 1951. He worked as a history teach and football coach at
William Allen High School William Allen High School, often referred to as Allen High School or simply Allen, is one of two large, urban state school, public secondary education in the United States, high schools of the Allentown School District in Allentown, Pennsylvania. ...
in
Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...
, from 1948 until his retirement. He died in 1988 at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Perry 1917 births 1988 deaths American football ends Bernards High School alumni Detroit Lions players Muhlenberg Mules football players People from Bernards Township, New Jersey Players of American football from Somerset County, New Jersey Players of American football from East Orange, New Jersey