Jack Depler
Born:(1899-01-06)January 6, 1899
Lewistown, Illinois, U.S.
Died:December 5, 1970(1970-12-05) (aged 71)
Lewistown, Illinois, U.S.
Career information
Position(s)Tackle, center
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight220 lb (100 kg)
CollegeIllinois
Career history
As coach
1922–1928Columbia Lions (assistant)
1929Orange Tornadoes
1930–1931Brooklyn Dodgers
As player
1921Hammond Pros
1929Orange Tornadoes
As owner
1930–1933Brooklyn Dodgers
Career highlights and awards
Career stats

John Charles Depler (January 6, 1899 December 5, 1970) was a professional football player and coach. Prior to his professional career, he played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini football team of the University of Illinois. There he helped lead Illinois to its second national championship in 1919, and earned first-team All-American honors in 1920. After graduation, Depler played for the Hammond Pros of the National Football League (NFL). The following year, he was hired as an assistant coach to Frank "Buck" O'Neill, at Columbia University, where he stayed for the next eight seasons.

In 1929, Depler rejoined the NFL as a player-coach with the Orange Tornadoes. In following season, he bought the Dayton Triangles and relocated the team to Brooklyn, New York, with the help of Bill Dwyer, an early Prohibition gangster and bootlegger. Depler was now the co-founder and coach of the NFL's new Brooklyn Dodgers. He took most of the members of the 1929 Tornadoes with him for the new Dodgers team.

After a successful first season, little went right for the club. After the team's second season, Depler resigned as coach and the team was sold to Chris Cagle and Shipwreck Kelly.[1]

References

  1. Maxymuk, John (August 2, 2012). NFL Head Coaches: A Biographical Dictionary, 1920-2011. McFarland Press. p. 364. ISBN 978-0786465576.
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