Emlen Tunnell

Emlen Lewis Tunnell (March 29, 1924 – July 23, 1975), nicknamed "the Gremlin", though sources conflict as to his year of birth. His tombstone as well as the Social Security Death Index and Tunnell's Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File reflect a birth date of March 29, 1924. Official NFL records and multiple sources in the early 1960s reported his date of birth as March 29, 1922. Tunnell listed his birth date as March 29, 1923, on his 1942 draft card and on his 1950 application for World War II benefits. Other sources record his birth year as 1925. His parents were divorced when Tunnell was young, and he and three siblings were raised by his mother, Catherine, who worked as a housekeeper in the homes of wealthy families in the Philadelphia Main Line area.

Tunnell was included in the inaugural class of inductees to the Radnor High School Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2023, the road that runs through the school's campus was renamed "Emlen Tunnell Way" in his honor.

College and military service Toledo Tunnell enrolled at the University of Toledo in the fall of 1942 and played college football as a halfback for Toledo Rockets football team. He was described as the "main spring" of Toledo's offense in the first part of the 1942 season. However, on October 26, 1942, he sustained a broken neck in a game when he was blocked while attempting to make a tackle against Marshall. He recuperated sufficiently to help lead the Toledo Rockets men's basketball team to the finals of the 1943 National Invitation Tournament.

Coast Guard Tunnell played basketball for the racially integrated District 12 team at Coast Guard Station Alameda in 1943. Tunnell's neck injury in 1942 resulted in his being rejected in efforts to enlist in both the United States Army and Navy during World War II. In May 1943, Tunnell enlisted in the United States Coast Guard. From August 1943 to July 1944, he served on the USS Etamin, a cargo ship that was crewed by Coast Guard personnel and stationed in the South West Pacific Area.

In the fall of 1944, Tunnell played at the halfback position for the San Francisco Coast Guard Pilots football team. On November 11, 1944, he led the Pilots to a 13–0 victory over Amos Alonzo Stagg's Pacific Tigers football team, throwing 22 yards for a touchdown and returning an interception 75 yards for another touchdown. At the end of the 1944 season, he was named to the All-Pacific Coast service football team. He also played basketball for the San Francisco Coast Guard, scoring 13 points in a December 1944 game against the California Golden Bears.

The Coast Guard named the Bernard C. Webber, and all its other Sentinel class cutters, after heroes, and chose to name the 45th vessel after Tunnell, the number he wore during his Hall of Fame career with the NY Giants. In March 1946, while stationed at Naval Station Argentia in Newfoundland, Tunnell rescued a shipmate who fell from the USS Tampa. Tunnell jumped into the 32-degree water and saved his drowning shipmate. In 2011, Tunnell was posthumously recognized by having the gymnasium on Coast Guard Island named in his honor and was awarded the Silver Lifesaving Medal for his heroism in rescuing his shipmate on the Tampa.

On December 12, 2017, the Coast Guard announced that it planned to name its 45th Sentinel class cutter the USCGC Emlen Tunnell.

Iowa Tunnell was honorably discharged from the Coast Guard in April 1946.

On October 11, 1947, he set an Iowa single-game record with 155 receiving yards and three touchdowns on six receptions. Three weeks later, Tunnell quit the team after an argument with backfield coach Frank Carideo. He apologized and was reinstated two days later, but he played "sparingly" in the final two games of the 1947 season.

Tunnell left Iowa in January 1948 in order to make some money to enable him to return and play football in the fall. He was told by school officials that, in order to be eligible to play football again in the fall, he would need to return for summer school and make up for a class he failed in the fall. Tunnell later explained: "I got a telegram on Sunday saying I had to be back in school on Monday and didn't have any money or nothing."

Professional football player New York Giants On July 24, 1948, Tunnell signed with the New York Giants. He later wrote that he hitchhiked from his family home in Garrett Hill to New York City to meet Jack Mara, son of Giants founder Tim Mara, and ask for a try out. In his Hall of Fame induction speech, Tunnell thanked a West Indian banana-truck driver who dropped him off near this Polo Grounds "appointment".

As a rookie in 1948, Tunnell appeared in 10 games and intercepted seven passes, including one returned 43 yards for a touchdown. In three years with the Packers, Tunnell saw reduced playing time, but helped to bolster the defense with his experience, worked to develop the team's young players, and became known as "an unofficial pastor" for the team. He appeared in 13 games for the 1961 Packers team that won the NFL championship. He saw playing time in red zone defensive situations. Defensive backs coach Norb Hecker said of Tunnell: "He was still a vicious tackler. When the opposition got inside our 15, we put him in and he responded with the fury of a linebacker. He could fall back on experience and by watching an offensive player's move was seldom beat." At that time, he held several NFL records, including the following: His 79 career interceptions were an NFL record and remain second most in NFL history, having been surpassed in 1979 by fellow Iowa Hawkeye Paul Krause. His 1,282 interception return yards were an NFL record for four decades and rank fifth in NFL history as of 2017. His 258 punt returns were an NFL record, but rank 19th in league history as of 2017. His 2,209 punt return yards were an NFL record, He played in 158 consecutive games which was also an NFL record when he retired as a player.

During his 14-year NFL career, Tunnell also totaled 16 fumble recoveries, 8.6 yards per punt return, and 1,215 yards on 46 kickoff returns (26.4 yards per return). In August 1969, he was named to the NFL's 1950s All-Decade Team as a safety. In September 1969, he was one of 16 players named to the all-time All-Pro team selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In March 1975, he was inducted into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame. In 2010, he was one of the 22 players included in the New York Giants Ring of Honor at MetLife Stadium. Also in 2010, the NFL Network ranked Tunnell 79th on its list of the 100 greatest players of all time. In 2014, he was ranked as the second greatest player in New York Giants history in the book, "The 50 Greatest Players in New York Giants Football History".

On June 2, 2018, a statue of Tunnell was installed in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

In the fall of 1962, Tunnell worked as a scout for the Giants and Packers, observing college players on Saturdays and watching the Giants' upcoming opponents on Sundays. In May 1963, he was hired by the Giants as a special assistant coach under head coach Allie Sherman. In addition to his scouting duties, he was responsible for "special assignments" during the Giants' training camp.

In February 1965, Tunnell was promoted to assistant coach responsible for the Giants' defensive backs. While some sources credit Tunnell as the first African American to work as an assistant coach in the NFL, and even as the first black coach in the NFL,