Originally Posted by
Chuck Johnson in Green Bay Packers - Pro Football's Pioneer Team
ONE OF THE most colorful players in the history of the Packers was an Irishman named John McNally, better known as Johnny Blood.
He was born in New Richmond, Wisconsin, across the state line from Minneapolis and St. Paul. After high school, where he was athlete, poet and scholar, McNally matriculated to the University of Notre Dame. There he played freshman football and was considered one of the finest prospects of all time at the school.
His stay at Notre Dame, however, proved brief. Celebrating St. Patrick's day the next spring, he and a friend rode a motorcycle out of South Bend, Indiana, and never returned.
McNally then enrolled at St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota, and played football there on Saturdays. He also wanted to play football for the Minneapolis Liberties, a professional team, on Sandays and he needed an alias.
One Saturday night, early in the fall, McNally and a friend of his, who was also looking for a second name, were walking along Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. McNally glanced up as they approached a movie theater.
"Blood and Sand” the marquee read. "Starring Rudolph Valentino.”
“That’s it," McNally said, pounding his friend on the back. "We've got our names. I'll be ‘Blood’ and you be ‘Sand.’"
Sand sifted away into oblivion, but Johnny Blood became the Vagabond Halfback, one of the zaniest and also one of the best athletes of the National Football League.
Starting with the old Milwaukee Badgers in 1925, Blood played fifteen years in the league, second only to Sammy Baugh, who played sixteen. Blood played with the Duluth Eskimos in 1926 and 1927 and with Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in 1928. Curly Lambeau talked him out of Pottsville in 1929 and he stayed with the Packers through the 1936 season. He finished his league career with Pittsburgh, not only continuing to play from 1937 through !939 but coaching the team as well.
Johnny Blood had speed and elusiveness, spirit and courage. On offense he was runner, passer, catcher and kicker. On defense, he was a ball hawk.
He played best when the situation was most difficult. When the Packers led, he often coasted and clowned. He frequently dropped easy passes, then caught impossible ones.
He broke training rules and curfews; missed trains, buses and bed checks; eluded teammates assigned to watch or guard him. Despite his disdain for regular habits and hours, he played well
He signed his love letters in blood - his own. He ignored injuries that hospitalized lesser individuals. He lived up to the name "Johnny Blood" with dashing, daring, reckless abandon. With the Packers, he scored thirty-seven touchdowns and twice was named to the official all-league team.
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