Greasy Neale

Alfred Earle "Greasy" Neale (November 5, 1891 – November 2, 1973) was an American football and baseball player and coach. Neale was an end for West Virginia Wesleyan in the 1910s before becoming involved in professional baseball and football as both player and coach. He served as the regular outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds from 1916 to 1920, which included leading the team in hits in the 1919 World Series, the first championship in team history. He also spent time playing in the Ohio League as an end, playing a season each for Canton, Dayton, and Massillon from 1917 to 1919. He stopped playing baseball and football by the 1920s to focus on coaching, coaching for five different teams from 1915 to 1922 (which included coaching Washington & Jefferson to the 1921 Rose Bowl) before settling with the University of Virginia, where he coached football and baseball from 1923 to 1928.

Neale jumped from job to job, coaching minor league baseball to independent professional ball. In sixteen seasons of coaching college football, he went 82–54–11. Neale served as the backs coach at Yale from 1934 to 1940 before being hired to coach the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. They won just two games each in his first two seasons but steadily rose up the ranks, which culminated in 1947 with a division championship, the first one in team history. They lost in the 1947 NFL Championship Game but returned to the championship in 1948 and got revenge on Chicago to win their first NFL Championship. The 1949 campaign saw them go 11–1 (in addition to being a record for wins not broken for 30 years, it still ranks as the best season in winning percentage in team history). They defeated Los Angeles to win their second consecutive championship.

Neale concluded his tenure in 1950; in ten seasons as coach, he went 66–44–5. Neale retired from coaching and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969 for his contributions to the sport.

Early life

Neale was born on November 5, 1891, in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Although writers eventually assumed that Neale got his nickname, "Greasy", from his elusiveness on the football field, it actually arose during his youth, from a name-calling joust with a friend.

Playing career Baseball

Neale played Major League Baseball as an outfielder with the Cincinnati Reds between 1916 and 1924 and briefly with the Philadelphia Phillies for part of the 1921 season. Neale was the starting right fielder for the championship-winning 1919 Reds. He batted .357 in the 1919 World Series and led the Reds with ten hits in their eight-game series win over the scandalous White Sox.

Neale spent all but 22 games of his baseball career with the Reds. He had a career batting average of .259 with 8 home runs, 200 RBI, and 139 stolen bases, and finished in the top ten in stolen bases in the National League four times. When football season came around, often he would leave baseball and fulfill his football duties (albeit playing about 90% of a baseball season most years, with the exception of 1919 when he played the entire season, including the World Series).

At Washington & Jefferson, he led his 1921 squad to the Rose Bowl, where the Presidents played the California Golden Bears to a scoreless tie. At Virginia, Neale was also the head baseball coach from 1923 to 1928, tallying a mark of 80–73–2. He returned to the club late into the 1928 season.

In 1929, Neale joined the coaching staff of the St. Louis Cardinals. He started the season as the team's third base coach, but was demoted to the Rochester Red Wings along with manager Billy Southworth on July 24, 1929. The following month he was replaced by Ray Blades and became a scout for the Cardinals.

In 1930, Neale once again managed the Generals.

Independent football

Neale later coached the independent professional Ironton Tanks. He and Tanks quarterback Glenn Presnell claimed victories against the NFL's second-place New York Giants and third-place Chicago Bears in 1930, however the team folded in 1931.

Return to college In 1931, Neale returned to college coaching as the head football coach at West Virginia. In 1934, he became the backfield coach at Yale, where his brother, Widdy, was the director of intramural athletics.

Professional Neale moved to the National Football League (NFL), to serve as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1941 to 1950. From 1944 through 1949, Neale's Eagles finished second three times and in first place three times. The Eagles won the NFL Championship in 1948 and again in 1949, and became the first team to win back-to-back titles since the 1940 and 1941 Chicago Bears by shutting out their opponents, beating the Chicago Cardinals 7–0 in the snow ridden 1948 NFL Championship Game and the Los Angeles Rams 14–0 in the 1949 NFL Championship Game in a driving rain storm. It was the last championship for the Eagles until 1960. His offense was led by the passing of quarterback Tommy Thompson, the pass catching of future Hall of Fame end Pete Pihos, and the running of another Hall of Famer, Steve Van Buren. He tallied a mark of 66–44–5 including playoff games in his ten seasons with the club. Neale was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969. Both inductions recognized his coaching career.

Head coaching record College football

NFL Team Year Regular season PostseasonWon LostTiesWin %FinishWonLostWin %ResultPHI19412814th in NFL Eastern – – – –PHI19422905th in NFL Eastern – – – –PHI-PIT19435413rd in NFL Eastern – – – –PHI19447122nd in NFL Eastern – – – –PHI19457302nd in NFL Eastern – – – –PHI19466502nd in NFL Eastern – – – –PHI19478401st in NFL Eastern 1 1 Lost to Chicago Cardinals in NFL ChampionshipPHI19489211st in NFL Eastern 1 0 Won NFL ChampionshipPHI194911101st in NFL Eastern 1 0 Won NFL ChampionshipPHI19506603rd in NFL Eastern – – – – PHI Total 63 43 5 3 1 Total 63 43 5 3 1