This podcast episode delves into the inspiring narrative of Eugene "Gus" Neely, an individual who, despite suffering the profound adversity of losing his right hand in a farming accident during his adolescence, ascended to remarkable heights in the world of football. We recount Neely's journey from his modest beginnings in Texas to his noteworthy tenure at Dartmouth College, where he garnered national attention as a one-armed football player. The episode highlights his extraordinary achievements on the field, including intercepting passes and blocking punts, all accomplished with remarkable tenacity and skill. Additionally, we explore the broader implications of his story, reflecting upon the resilience of athletes who overcome physical limitations to achieve greatness. Join us as we celebrate Neely's legacy and examine the enduring themes of perseverance and determination inherent in the realm of sports.

The conversation is based on Tim's recent article titled: Don’t Handicap Eugene “Gus” Neely - https://www.footballarchaeology.com/p/todays-tidbit-dont-handicap-eugene

⏰ Timecodes ⏰

00:01 The Triumph of Tim Brown

01:31 The Story of Ed Neely

03:02 The Journey of Gus Neely: Overcoming Adversity in Sports

07:55 The Resilience of a Football Player

09:46 Exploring Inspiring Sports Stories

11:34 Closing Thoughts and Future Engagement

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The narrative weaves a compelling account of Eugene Neely, a remarkable individual who, despite enduring a grievous personal loss early in life, ascended to the upper echelons of football prominence. This episode delineates the extraordinary journey of Neely, who tragically lost his right hand due to a farming accident during his formative years. The discussion underscores the essence of resilience, portraying Neely not merely as a one-armed athlete but as a symbol of unwavering perseverance against formidable odds. His tenure at Dartmouth College, where he garnered national attention for his athletic prowess, serves as a focal point of the dialogue, illustrating the media's fascination with his story, which transcended the conventional narratives typically associated with sports. The hosts meticulously explore Neely's contributions on the field, recounting his significant achievements, including interceptions and accolades that recognized him as an All-American player, thereby illuminating the profound impact of his legacy in the annals of football history.

Hey, glad you could join us.

You are just in time for a great story from over 110 years ago of a gentleman that suffered a personal tragedy, young in life that most would find to be disabilitating, but he overcame to become the top of the football world.

Tim Brown brings us the story of an amazing player who overcame unbelievable obstacles to reach a pinnacle of the pigskin.

Tim, welcome back to the pig pen.

Hey, Darren.

Look forward to chatting.

And normally I start off with some kind of dad joke, but I just couldn't come up with one that really seemed fitting and appropriate here.

So.

Yeah, yeah, we're just gonna.

We're just going in bareback.

Just gonna go.

Go into this thing.

This title does bring up a memory, though, but.

Which I'll share with you in a second.

The title that you wrote of a recent tidbit is don't handicap Eugene.

Gus Neely.

And the memory that pops up to me is when I was a kid, there was a movie called Gus that I think Disney came out with about a.

A donkey that was kicking field goals.

That it was just a silly story, but I just remember that.

Because of.

Donkey's name was Gus.

Yes, but has nothing to do with this story, I don't think.

Did you cry when you watched the movie, or.

No, I only.

I cried an Old Yeller, but not.

Not Gus, because Gus was a bit of a jackass.

Oh, yeah, Sounds like it.

I had to get the dad joke in or somewhere.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, good.

Thank you.

Tell us about Ed Neely.

Yeah.

So Eugene Neely.

I'm sorry.

Yeah.

The cool thing about him is I think everybody loves.

We're talking about Old Yeller, but everybody loves a story of an underdog.

Right.

And so now normally it's because in football, it's because somebody's too short, too slow, or they came from some small school or, you know, whatever it may have been.

But here and there, there have been guys who have some form of physical handicap, and yet they persevere and end up, you know, having, you know, some great success.

So.

And he's one of them.

And so Gus Neely grew up in Texas, you know, somewhere, I think right around Dallas.

I'm blanking on the name of the town.

It's like Cherokee, Texas or something like that.

But anyways, he lost his right hand in a farming, you know, farm accident when he was in high school, probably about his sophomore junior year.

But he ended up playing.

You know, he ended up playing football and baseball at the Peril School in Dallas that eventually merged.

Now it's St. Mark's you know, a couple schools came together.

So it's still an ongoing, very, you know, prestigious, you know, school in the Dallas area.

But so he plays there.

So like newspapers are always looking, you know, still are, you know, but back then they were always looking for something, some human interest story.

And so there's a big deal made of him.

He appeared in papers all over the place because they called him a one armed, you know, football player.

And even though he's on the freshman team, you know, couldn't play varsity at Dartmouth at the time.

He was like, it was clear this kid was good and that he was gonna make his mark at, at Dartmouth.

And one of the other funny things was that like while he was getting attention a lot of times the, the local newspaper, they, they kind of add to the syndicated article and they say, well, you know, they don't know, you know, because it was claimed that he was the only one armed football player in the country.

But then they say, oh, what about so and so over at, you know, watch it, you normal and you know, so anyways, it raids.

It raised a bunch of different instances of, you know, kids playing who had some form of handicap.

But anyways, he ends up as a sophomore.

He starts and one of the cool things is against West Virginia, he managed to intercept the passenger and block a punt in the same game.

So you know, not bad if you know he's doing it with one hand.

As a junior he ended up being named All American by one writer.

There was a, it was like the International News syndicate, which was a big, you know, syndicate at the time.

And their lead football writer considered him to be an all American, you know, for sure is really well regarded, really solid football player.

So World War I's going on and most colleges were effectively taken over by the U.S. army.

And they had the student army training Corps.

So.

And a lot of schools didn't have varsities that really varsity sports.

They had SATC sports.

And since he was missing his right hand, he couldn't be in the army.

He couldn't participate on the SATC team.

But he ended up helping coach at Camp Dix in New Jersey, you know, that season.

Any event, you know, ends up leaving, you know, Dartmouth.

He ends up a couple years later coaching Austin College, you know, in the Dallas area.

And.

But that was the only other year that I could find that he coached.

So, you know, it's one of those things where each year he got.

He got publicity largely because of, you know, having lost his hand.

And yet, you know, he was definitely a really formidable football player, you know, and they, you know, and just if anybody names you an all American, then you're doing pretty well, so.

And he was a big guy, you know, he's like 195 pounds, which is a pretty good sized kid at that time for a guard.

So heck of, you know, heck of a player, and ends up, you know, he had successful career in oil and securities businesses and things like that.

And so, you know, kind of.

It's just one of those guys where you just kind of go, good for him, you know.

Yeah.

I mean, just sit there and think about how hard it would be to pick off a pass with only one hand.

You know, that.

That had to be extraordinary that he was able to do that.

It's hard enough for guys to get interceptions with two hands.

Yeah, yeah.

As a guard.

So, you know, so he's playing both ways.

Right.

As an offensive guard back then, you couldn't use your hands, you know, you could only.

You could only be in touch with the opponent with one hand at a time, you know, and like one arm at a time, I should say so, you know, it probably wasn't as difficult, but you know, when you're trying to, you know, when you're rushing or you as.

As a defensive line lineman, you know, then.

Then some different deals.

So I mean, that had to be.

That had to be more difficult.

But apparently, you know, he.

He wore like, you know, the images show he wore like a boxing glove sort of thing on his hand, so it's padded and everything.

But, you know, anyways, still, I just think it's just fabulous story here, you know, here's this guy that, you know, he could have, you know, avoided a sport like football, but boom, he's.

He's.

He's in there.

You know,.

There's been some, even some modern times.

We just had a linebacker not too long ago, I think played for Seattle.

That the.

The name escapes me.

I think there was two brothers and one of them was missing a hand.

And.

And of course, uh, the pitcher you're.

From, I think it played at Miami.

Yeah, I think you're right.

Your name escapes you right now.

And then we had that.

A major league baseball PITCHER probably about 30 years ago that had some success with having one hand and would Change the glove off of his pitching hand.

And I thought that was always amazing, something or other.

He played for Michigan.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, there was a kid in my, you know, my neighborhood growing up, he did the same thing.

He.

He was like pitcher in softball, you know, but he.

He'd pitch, and that was, I believe we played, you know, slow pitch.

He had to have some arc.

Not.

Not the beer league, you know, high loop, but so you had to have some arc on the pitch.

But he'd pitch, and then he had this.

And he, you know, had this move that he switched around, get his glove on the.

On the other hand and, you know, I mean, field the ground balls like, basically like any other kid.

He was a good athlete and stuff.

So it just.

He just dealt with it, you know, it's amazing.

Amazing what these guys can do with not having everything that most.

Most other players do have.

Yeah.

So very cool.

So, I mean, this is another instance where you have a great story that you researched and you tell us about somebody that we probably would have never heard of unless you brought it to light.

And you do this in your tidbits.

Quite often.

You.

You go through, you know, turn over every rock and stone and find these stories, and I'm amazed by them all the time.

And maybe you could share with people where they too, can take in some of your tidbits.

Yeah, you know, easiest thing is just go to footballarchaeology.com you can subscribe.

And it's a substack site, so you just enter your email address.

And then every time that I publish a new story, you'll get.

Get one, but.

Or you'll get an email with the story in the email you can follow, in which case it'll, you know, it'll appear on the app whenever you're on the app.

And then, you know, the other thing is just.

I just encourage people to bookmark and feel free if they're like, when did this happen?

Or when, you know, just some old football thing, you know, you can Google it, obviously.

But, you know, a lot of times if you just go to my site, enter the keywords, I, you know, there's decent chance I've got something written on it, but give it a shot.

Yeah.

And do it that way, you know, you're getting facts, and it's not some AI thing that's making up something or putting together something doesn't belong to the facts.

You know, you know, you're getting the real deal with.

With Tim's work.

So I highly encourage I mean, I use AI to search for stuff, but I trust but verify.

I mean, I go back to the original sources and all that kind of stuff.

So anyways, Right.

All right, Tim.

Well, we really appreciate you joining us here and would love to talk to you again next week.

Look forward to it.

Thank you.

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