American football player (1917–2007)
American football player
Carl Nicholas Nery (June 17, 1917 – March 9, 2007) was an American football player.
Nery was born in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, in 1917, and attended Springdale High School.[1] He played college football for the Duquesne Dukes football team from 1938 to 1940. In December 1939, the sports editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette rated him as the most valuable player in the country, pointing to his versatility
He is almost equally at home in the backfield or in the line. . . . Anyone who can shuttle from fullback, to end, to a tackle, and then to guard, and leave nothing whatever to be desired in handling any of these varied assignments, obviously must rank high in the national picture . . . "[2]
He was selected by the Central Press Association as a third-team guard on the 1939 College Football All-America Team.[3] He was also selected to play on the Eastern College All-Star team in the Fresh Air Fund game in September 1940.[4]
Nery was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 62nd pick in the 1940 NFL draft and played for the Steelers during the 1940 and 1941 NFL seasons.[5][6] He appeared in 21 games for the Steelers.[1] He was paid $125 per game by the Steelers during the 1940 season and supplemented his income with construction jobs in the off-season. He was drafted into military service in August 1942.[7]
Nery died in 2007 in Scott, Pennsylvania.[1]
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