Nesser Brothers The Nesser Brothers were a group of football playing brothers who helped make up the most famous football family in the United States from 1907 until the mid - 1920s . The group consisted of seven brothers who worked for Panhandle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Columbus , Ohio and who were later used as the foundation for the Columbus Panhandles of the " Ohio League " , and later the National Football League , when the club was founded by future NFL - President Joe Carr in 1907 . Origins . The brothers ' father , Theodore , was born on January 20 , 1850 , in a small town in Germany called Kirsch , near Trier , Alsace - Lorraine , which was the border region between Germany and France . He eventually got a job with the German railroad as an apprentice boilermaker . Soon afterwards the German government , which operated and controlled all the railroads , sent him to Metz , where he worked for twelve years as a boilermaker . In 1870 , at the age of twenty , he fought with the German army in the Franco - Prussian War although he did not care for the fighting . After the war , around 1873 , Theodore met Katerina Steinbach , and the following year the two were married and wasted no time in creating a large family . the couple eventually had eleven children . The first of the football - playing Nesser Brothers were born in Germany : John ( 1876 ) and Phil ( 1880 ) . By 1881 Theodore had grown weary of constant the wars in Europe and looked to give his family a fresh start in the United States . That year he signed a contract to work with the Pennsylvania Railroad in exchange for boat fare . He was forced to leave his family behind , until he could raise enough money to send for them . He also agreed to work for three years to help the railroad develop improvements to its locomotive firebox . The railroad sent him to Dennison , Ohio , to start working . By 1882 he had finally saved enough money for Katerina and the five children to make their way to America . He eventually designed the steam engine that would be used by the railroad the years to come . However when the railroad tweaked his design to get around his patent in 1887 , Nesser quit and started a plumbing business in Columbus . While in Columbus the Nesser family continued to grow with five more children were born including football players : Fred ( 1887 ) , Frank ( 1889 ) , Al ( 1893 ) and Ray ( 1898 ) . Pennsylvania Railroad . Seven of the eight Nesser boys eventually followed their father to work as boilermakers at the Pennsylvania Railroad . The brothers did backbreaking , muscle - straining work for 10 hours a day at the shops of the Panhandle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad . However they always rushed through their 1 hour lunch break so they could practice football for 50 minutes before they returned to work . In the event of the rain , they played euchre . None of the brothers attended college , however they were offered various scholarships . On brother , Frank , was offered a chance to go to Notre Dame but chose to get married instead . Meanwhile Phil was a math genius who never had any formal education beyond the fourth grade . Ted was a football genius and is credited with originating several plays : the triple pass , the criss - cross and the short kickoff , which became popular plays at the college level . Columbus Panhandles . In 1907 , Joe Carr resurrected and reorganized the Columbus Panhandles , a professional football team that recorded its first season in 1901 but disbanded in 1904 due to financial hardships . With his experience as a sportswriter and a sports executive in baseball , he was ready to make his mark on football , the sport he truly loved . However if his team was to succeed , he needed an attraction . That led Carr to build his team around pro football ’ s most famous family , the Nesser brothers . Eventually six brothers would play for the Panhandles . Carr used the Nesser brothers as the backbone of the Panhandles , and the football - playing family remained in that role for nearly twenty years . Because most of the team ’ s players were employed by the railroad , they could ride the train free of charge . Because of this perk , Carr was able to schedule mostly road games , eliminating the expenses of stadium rental , game promotion , and security for the field . This perk combined combination with the Nesser brothers , made the Panhandles a major attraction in the early days of professional football . The Nesser brothers were bigger and stronger than most of their opponents . In their prime , they averaged more than 210 pounds apiece , in an era in which the average professional lineman weighed about 180 pounds . The Nessers were a huge draw everywhere they went . During a game against the Detroit Heralds in Navin Field ( later renamed Tiger Stadium ) in 1916 the team drew 7 , 000 spectators , even though the Heralds hiked their ticket prices from $ 1 to $ 1 . 50 only for games against the Panhandles and Jim Thorpe ' s Canton Bulldogs . The brothers were written up extensively in out - of - town newspapers , but barely received notice in their hometown of Columbus . This fact is due to the focus of Columbus fans on the Ohio State University football team . They had little interest in games played by railroad workers . As a consequence , the Panhandles never achieved much of a hometown following . Ted ' s son Charlie also played briefly for the Panhandles in 1921 . At the time Ted was a player - coach for the team . This led to the only time in NFL history where a father and son played together on the same team . The 1921 Panhandles team reported featured six Nesser brothers , a son ( Charlie Nesser ) , a nephew ( Ted Hopkins ) and a brother - in - law ( John Schneider ) on the team . Four of the brothers retired as players after the 1921 season , including 46 - year - old John , who held the record as the NFL ' s oldest player until it was later broken by George Blanda . Meanwhile Al continue to play until 1931 . Outside football . There were 12 children in the Nesser family . Ironically the only boy who didn ' t play football was Pete , the largest of the Nesser brothers , who weigh in at 350 pounds . The game just did not appeal to him . He worked as a boilermaker for the Pennsylvania Railroad for a remarkable fifty - seven years , starting in 1890 at age thirteen , and continuing until his retirement in 1947 . Pete died on May 29 , 1954 , at the age of seventy - six . Meanwhile the football career of Raymond , the youngest of the brothers , remains somewhat of a mystery . It seems he only played in few games with his brothers , but he did appear in photos advertising the Panhandles . He didn ’ t follow his brothers into the boilermaker trade , either ; instead he became a police officer for the city of Columbus . Raymond died on September 2 , 1969 , at the age of seventy - one . Other teams . The Nessers also played for a little for the Massillon Tigers , Akron Indians , Akron Pros , Canton Bulldogs , Shelby Blues , Cleveland Panthers and the New York Giants . Ted , the first Nesser to make money at football , played for Massillon ' s state championship team in 1904 , 1905 and 1906 . Older brother John also played for the Tigers , in 1905 , before Carr formed the Panhandles in 1907 . Meanwhile , Al won two NFL Championships with the Akron Pros ( 1920 ) and the New York Giants ( 1927 ) . Frank was usually recruited by Peggy Parratt to play for his Akron Indians . Other sports . The Nessers were not restricted to playing only football . In addition to football Phil was a champion hammer thrower . Meanwhile Fred was a professional boxer who was considered a legitimate contender for the heavyweight title , held by Jess Willard . However in 1915 , a broken wrist ended his boxing career . Frank was also a star baseball player who never ranked below third in batting in the Ohio State League and the Southern Association during his six years as a pro . Recognition . Columbus has no plaques or monuments to the Nessers or a street named after them . In 1987 , Fred ' s daughter Vera tried to get the city to name a street after the football pioneering brothers , however her request was rejected . A display recognizing the Nessers ' contributions to pro football is on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame , although none of the brothers have been formally inducted into the Hall .