# Ray Flaherty

Raymond Paul Flaherty (September 1, 1903 – July 19, 1994) was an American professional football player and coach who spent 18 total seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as both a player and a coach. He played college football for the Gonzaga Bulldogs and played for the Los Angeles Wildcats of the American Football League (AFL) and the New York Yankees and New York Giants of the NFL. The Giants retired his jersey number 1, the first in NFL history, upon his playing retirement in 1935.
Flaherty was head coach of Gonzaga's football and basketball teams in 1930 and 1931, the NFL's Washington Redskins from 1936 to 1942, and the New York Yankees and Chicago Hornets of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in the latter half of the 1940s. He was a member of three NFL championship teams, one with the Giants in 1934 and two as Redskins head coach in 1937 and 1942, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976.

## Early life

Born on a farm near Lamont in eastern Washington, Flaherty grew up in Spokane and was a multi-sport athlete at Gonzaga High School (now Gonzaga Prep) and Gonzaga University, where he played with Hust Stockton under head coach Gus Dorais. As a freshman, Flaherty attended Washington State College in Pullman, then transferred to Gonzaga before his sophomore year. Flaherty competed on the Gonzaga Bulldogs track and field, baseball, and basketball teams in addition to playing football.

## Professional career

Flaherty began his professional football career in 1926 with the Los Angeles Wildcats of the American Football League, a team of western players based in Illinois. It played all its games on the road in its only season, which ended with a post-season barnstorming tour through the South against league rival New York Yankees. Flaherty then played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, first with the Yankees (1927–1928) with Red Grange, until the franchise folded following the 1928 season. He joined the New York Giants, 1929 through the 1935 season, except for 1930, when he returned to Spokane as the head coach at his alma mater, Gonzaga. He also coached the Bulldog basketball team for a season (1930–1931). At the end of the 1935 season, Flaherty's jersey number 1 was 'taken out of circulation', thus making Flaherty the first professional football player to have his number retired. In 2024, wide receiver Malik Nabers was given permission by Flaherty's family to wear the number. In 1930, Flaherty played minor league baseball as a second baseman with the Providence Grays of the Eastern League.

## Head coaching career

Following his playing career, Flaherty was hired by George Preston Marshall, owner of the NFL's Boston Redskins, as head coach for the 1936 season. The team won the division title that year, then relocated to Washington, D.C. for the 1937 season, and picked up future hall of fame quarterback Sammy Baugh in the first round of the 1937 NFL draft. In seven seasons at the helm of the Redskins, Flaherty won four division titles (1936, 1937, 1940, 1942) and two NFL Championships (1937, 1942). Among his innovations on offense, Flaherty is credited with inventing the screen pass in 1937.
The Redskins held their 1940 training camp in Spokane at Gonzaga; the previous year's camp was also held in Spokane County, at Eastern Washington College in Cheney. In 1941 and 1942, the Redskins trained in California in San Diego at Brown Military Academy.
Flaherty served as an officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II, then returned to pro football in 1946 as a head coach in the new All-America Football Conference (AAFC). With the New York Yankees, he won division titles in each of his two full seasons at the helm, but lost to the Cleveland Browns in the title games. After a poor start in 1948, owner Dan Topping relieved Flaherty of his duties in mid-September. Several months later he was hired as head coach of the AAFC's Chicago Hornets, known as the Rockets in their three previous seasons. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976 for his contributions as a coach.

## After football

After the end of the AAFC in 1949, Flaherty returned to the Spokane area to enter private business as a beverage distributor, and lived in nearby northern Idaho. During football season, he was a part-time columnist for the Spokane Daily Chronicle. A college friend of Bing Crosby, Flaherty participated in the singer's Spokane memorial service in 1977.
After an extended illness at the age of 90, Flaherty died on July 19, 1994, in Hayden, Idaho.

## Head coaching record
### College

| Year | Team | Overall |
| Gonzaga Bulldogs (Independent) (1930) ||||||
| 1930 | Gonzaga | 1–7–1 |
| Gonzaga: | Gonzaga: | 1–7–1 |
| Total: | Total: | 1–7–1 |

### Professional

| Team | Year | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Post season | Post season | Post season | Post season |
| Team | Year | Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result |
| BOS | 1936 | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 1st in Eastern Division | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost NFL Championship to Green Bay Packers |
| WAS | 1937 | 8 | 3 | 0 | .727 | 1st in Eastern Division | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | Won NFL Championship over Chicago Bears |
| WAS | 1938 | 6 | 3 | 2 | .667 | 2nd in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| WAS | 1939 | 8 | 2 | 1 | .800 | 2nd in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| WAS | 1940 | 9 | 2 | 0 | .818 | 1st in Eastern Division | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost NFL Championship to Chicago Bears |
| WAS | 1941 | 6 | 5 | 0 | .545 | 3rd in Eastern Division | - | - | - | - |
| WAS | 1942 | 10 | 1 | 0 | .909 | 1st in Eastern Division | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | Won NFL Championship over Chicago Bears |
| WAS/NFL Total | WAS/NFL Total | 54 | 21 | 5 | 72.0 | | 2 | 2 | .500 | |
| NYY | 1946 | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 1st in Eastern Division | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost AAFC Championship Game to Cleveland Browns |
| NYY | 1947 | 11 | 2 | 1 | .846 | 1st in Eastern Division | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost AAFC Championship Game to Cleveland Browns |
| NYY | 1948 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | fired in mid-season | - | - | - | - |
| NYY AAFC Total | NYY AAFC Total | 22 | 8 | 2 | .733 | | 0 | 2 | .000 | |
| CHI | 1949 | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 4th in AAFC | - | - | - | - |
| CHI AAFC Total | CHI AAFC Total | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | | - | - | - | - |
| AAFC Total | AAFC Total | 26 | 16 | 2 | .619 | | 0 | 2 | .000 | - |
| Professional Total | Professional Total | 80 | 37 | 5 | .684 | | 2 | 4 | .333 | |
| Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com |||||||||||