Ernie Nevers Ernest Alonzo Nevers ( June 11 , 1902 - May 3 , 1976 ) was an American professional athlete who played American football as a fullback for the Duluth Eskimos and the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League , as well as baseball as a pitcher for the St . Louis Browns . Nevers was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963 . To this day , Nevers is the only player in the history of the NFL to have scored 40 points in a single game . On November 28 , 1929 , Nevers scored 6 touchdowns and kicked 4 extra points for the Chicago Cardinals in a 40 - 0 rout of the crosstown - rival Chicago Bears . High school . Nevers attended Superior Central High School ( Superior , Wisconsin ) and Santa Rosa High School ( Santa Rosa , California ) , where he excelled in football . In 1920 , as a senior , he led the team to the NCS Championships . In 1925 , the American football field at Santa Rosa High School was renamed Nevers Field in his honor . Stanford University . Nevers went on to attend Stanford University , where he was All - America and played in the 1925 Rose Bowl against the University of Notre Dame and the famous Four Horsemen backfield . He played all 60 minutes in the game and rushed for 114 yards , more yardage than all the Four Horsemen combined . He was named the 1925 Rose Bowl Player of the Game . Former coach Glenn Scobey " Pop " Warner called Nevers " the football player without a fault " . Nevers often was compared to Jim Thorpe . Nevers ' # 1 jersey is retired , one of three to be retired by the school . The others are Jim Plunkett ( # 16 ) and John Elway ( # 7 ) . Professional career . Nevers excelled in several sports , including basketball and baseball . In 1926 he went to Jacksonville , Florida , where he organized the Jacksonville All - Stars , the city ' s first attempt at a professional football team . The All - Stars played two exhibition games against NFL opponents : the Chicago Bears , led by Red Grange , on January 2 , and the New York Giants on January 9 . However , meager crowds forced the team to fold after only two games , and Nevers signed a contract with the St . Louis Browns baseball team . Nevers debuted as a pitcher with the Browns in the 1926 season , and thereafter spent parts of three seasons with the Browns , most notably giving up two home run s to Babe Ruth in his 60 - homer season of 1927 . Nevers would have better fortune in football , though . Despite reports that Red Grange and the newly formed AFL had signed him , Nevers ' s childhood friend and Duluth Eskimos owner Ole Haugsrud had actually signed him . The Eskimos were unique , as they had no actual home and played all their games on the road . Many consider that if Nevers had signed with the AFL , the NFL may have been driven out of business . After two seasons for Duluth , during which he played almost every minute on offense and defense , he did not play in 1928 . However , he returned to the NFL to play fullback and coach the Chicago Cardinals from 1929 to 1931 . In 1929 , Nevers set a record for individual points in a single game , scoring all six of the Cardinals ' touchdowns and kicking four extra points , racking up 40 points against the crosstown rival Chicago Bears - a record that has never been broken . He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of its charter class in 1963 . ESPN ranked Nevers # 25 on its Top 25 Players in College Football History , while NFL Network named him # 89 on their Top 100 Greatest Players . Personal life . Nevers served in the military during World War II . Although too old to be drafted , he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps . While serving in the Pacific , he and his battalion were reported missing for several months . They were finally found on a deserted island , where several of the men had died . During the ordeal , Nevers suffered from beri - beri and weighed only 110 pounds . While he was away in the service , his wife died of pneumonia . Nevers is the uncle of Gordy Nevers , who played minor - league baseball in the Kansas City Athletics organization , and the great - uncle of Tom Nevers , who was a first - round draft pick by the Houston Astros baseball team in the 1990 draft .