Red Strader
Encyclopedia
Norman "Red" Strader was a football
player and coach who served in both capacities at the collegiate and professional levels. In the college ranks, he spent two years as head coach at St. Mary's College of California, and later held the same position with the New York Yankees
, New York Yanks
and San Francisco 49ers
.
, Strader moved with his family six months after his arrival to Modesto, California
, attending high school in the town. He advanced to St. Mary's, where he played at fullback under future College Football Hall of Fame
coach Slip Madigan
. During his final year in 1925, he was recognized as the first player in Gael history to earn All-American recognition.
. He played with three teams: in Saginaw, Michigan
; Wheeling, West Virginia
; and Hollywood, California, but returned to football in 1927, when he played one season with the National Football League
's Chicago Cardinals.
in Colorado
. By 1932, he returned to St. Mary's working under Madigan for the next eight seasons, but when health problems forced Madigan to retire, Strader was promoted to head coach on March 17, 1940.
After two seasons as head coach, Strader was irritated when the Gaels' Bay area rival, the University of San Francisco
, blocked the team from using their regular field at Kezar Stadium
. However, greater considerations due to the onset of World War II and St. Mary's turning over a portion of their campus to naval training caused Strader to resign and spend the next 40 months in the service. During this period, he rose to the rank of lieutenant commander while coaching football and baseball at a trio of naval bases.
. When head coach Ray Flaherty
was forced out after a slow start on September 17, 1948, Strader was elevated to take his place. In his first season, the Yankees split their 10 remaining games, then reached the playoffs the following year with an 8-4 mark.
In December 1949, the AAFC was officially merged with the NFL, with a majority of the Yankees players being shifted to the older league's New York Bulldogs. Strader was named to lead the remolded team on January 5, 1950, and led the Yanks to a 7-5 finish that season. However, in June 1951 he was hospitalized for several weeks with heart problems. Those health concerns resulted in his departure on August 5, 1951, with team owner Ted Collins stating that he wanted assurances that Strader would not be compromised by the strains of coaching, a comment that Strader vigorously denied, saying he had been fired.
Strader's anger continued six weeks later when he filed a lawsuit asking for $10,000 in salary from Collins, while also severely criticizing the NFL draft
. Despite having only an oral agreement, Strader won his salary case on February 28, 1952, and also gained $1,451 in expenses from Collins, who had since sold the team to a group that had moved and renamed the team as the Dallas Texans
.
Briefly considered to replace Dick Todd as head coach of the Washington Redskins
, Strader spent the 1952 NFL season
as an assistant coach and scout with the 49ers before resigning on March 28, 1953. He spent the next year working in the construction business, while continuing to scout, and was again speculated as a head coaching candidate. This time, the team was the Baltimore Colts
, but when Weeb Ewbank was hired by Baltimore, Strader stayed in his earlier roles.
was fired on December 13, 1954, after serving as the only coach in franchise history, with Strader being hired 10 days later to replace him. Shaw's main flaw with team owner Tony Morabito
was his inability to win a championship, but Morabito said winning a title in his first year would not be reason to dismiss Strader.
In spite of a strong series of wins during the preseason, that opinion would change when the 49ers split their first six contests, then lost to the Los Angeles Rams
on November 6, 1955. That defeat caused one fan to hang Strader in effigy outside Kezar Stadium
, and by the end of the season, the 49ers had won just four of 12 contests, and dealt with reports of continued conflict between the coach and his players. Upon being fired on December 19, Strader disputed such talk by noting that he had been given the game ball in the season's final game.
just five months later, the end of cardiac problems that had plagued him for the past two years. On December 12, 1956, Strader's widow, Helen, filed a $27,000 lawsuit against the 49ers, asking for the compensation provided by her husband's contract. Three years later, she received an out-of-court settlement for $18,000.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player and coach who served in both capacities at the collegiate and professional levels. In the college ranks, he spent two years as head coach at St. Mary's College of California, and later held the same position with the New York Yankees
New York Yankees (AAFC)
The New York Yankees were a professional American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. The team played in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and often played in front of sold-out crowds . They were owned by Dan Topping, who brought many of his Brooklyn...
, New York Yanks
New York Yanks
The New York Yanks American football team played in the National Football League under that name in the 1950 and 1951 seasons. In 1949, Boston Yanks owner Ted Collins had requested the NFL to fold his Boston team and give him a new one in New York City...
and San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
.
High school and college
Born in Newton, New JerseyNewton, New Jersey
Newton is a town in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town population was 8,244. It is the county seat of Sussex County....
, Strader moved with his family six months after his arrival to Modesto, California
Modesto, California
Modesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....
, attending high school in the town. He advanced to St. Mary's, where he played at fullback under future College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
coach Slip Madigan
Slip Madigan
Edward Patrick "Slip" Madigan was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head coach at Saint Mary's College of California from 1921 to 1939 and at the University of Iowa from 1943 to 1944, compiling a career college football record of...
. During his final year in 1925, he was recognized as the first player in Gael history to earn All-American recognition.
Baseball
Strader then turned to baseball when he was signed on February 20, 1926, by the Cleveland IndiansCleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
. He played with three teams: in Saginaw, Michigan
Saginaw, Michigan
Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...
; Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...
; and Hollywood, California, but returned to football in 1927, when he played one season with the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's Chicago Cardinals.
College
In 1928, he took his first football coaching job when accepted the top job for Regis CollegeRegis College
Regis College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts and sciences college located in Weston, Massachusetts. Founded as a women’s college in 1927, Regis became co-educational in 2007.-History:...
in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. By 1932, he returned to St. Mary's working under Madigan for the next eight seasons, but when health problems forced Madigan to retire, Strader was promoted to head coach on March 17, 1940.
After two seasons as head coach, Strader was irritated when the Gaels' Bay area rival, the University of San Francisco
University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco , is a private, Jesuit/Catholic university located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1855, USF was established as the first university in San Francisco. It is the second oldest institution for higher learning in California and the tenth-oldest university of...
, blocked the team from using their regular field at Kezar Stadium
Kezar Stadium
Kezar Stadium is a stadium located adjacent to Kezar Pavilion in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. It is the former home of the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL, and of the San Francisco Dragons of MLL. It also served as the home of the...
. However, greater considerations due to the onset of World War II and St. Mary's turning over a portion of their campus to naval training caused Strader to resign and spend the next 40 months in the service. During this period, he rose to the rank of lieutenant commander while coaching football and baseball at a trio of naval bases.
Professional
Upon the end of the war, Strader was hired in 1946 as backfield coach of the Yankees of the fledgling All-America Football ConferenceAll-America Football Conference
The All-America Football Conference was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations...
. When head coach Ray Flaherty
Ray Flaherty
Raymond Paul Flaherty was a professional football player in the National Football League from 1926-1935. He was the head coach of the Boston/Washington Redskins from 1936–1942, where he won four division titles and two NFL Championships . Flaherty served in the United States Navy until 1945...
was forced out after a slow start on September 17, 1948, Strader was elevated to take his place. In his first season, the Yankees split their 10 remaining games, then reached the playoffs the following year with an 8-4 mark.
In December 1949, the AAFC was officially merged with the NFL, with a majority of the Yankees players being shifted to the older league's New York Bulldogs. Strader was named to lead the remolded team on January 5, 1950, and led the Yanks to a 7-5 finish that season. However, in June 1951 he was hospitalized for several weeks with heart problems. Those health concerns resulted in his departure on August 5, 1951, with team owner Ted Collins stating that he wanted assurances that Strader would not be compromised by the strains of coaching, a comment that Strader vigorously denied, saying he had been fired.
Strader's anger continued six weeks later when he filed a lawsuit asking for $10,000 in salary from Collins, while also severely criticizing the NFL draft
NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...
. Despite having only an oral agreement, Strader won his salary case on February 28, 1952, and also gained $1,451 in expenses from Collins, who had since sold the team to a group that had moved and renamed the team as the Dallas Texans
Dallas Texans (NFL)
The Dallas Texans played in the National Football League for one season, 1952, with a record of 1–11.-History:After the 1951 NFL season, the financially troubled New York Yanks franchise were put on the market. Ted Collins had founded that franchise in 1944 as the Boston Yanks, moved it to New...
.
Briefly considered to replace Dick Todd as head coach of the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
, Strader spent the 1952 NFL season
1952 NFL season
The 1952 NFL season was the 33rd regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, New York Yanks owner Ted Collins sold his team back to the NFL...
as an assistant coach and scout with the 49ers before resigning on March 28, 1953. He spent the next year working in the construction business, while continuing to scout, and was again speculated as a head coaching candidate. This time, the team was the Baltimore Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
, but when Weeb Ewbank was hired by Baltimore, Strader stayed in his earlier roles.
San Francisco
San Francisco head coach Buck ShawBuck Shaw
Lawrence T. "Buck" Shaw was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach for Santa Clara University, the University of California, Berkeley, the San Francisco 49ers, the United States Air Force Academy, and the Philadelphia Eagles...
was fired on December 13, 1954, after serving as the only coach in franchise history, with Strader being hired 10 days later to replace him. Shaw's main flaw with team owner Tony Morabito
Tony Morabito
Anthony J. "Tony" Morabito, a University of Santa Clara alumnus who had been moderately successful during the late 1930s and early 1940s in the lumber hauling business in San Francisco, California realized that air travel would make feasible a coast-to-coast rivalry in football.In 1944, after...
was his inability to win a championship, but Morabito said winning a title in his first year would not be reason to dismiss Strader.
In spite of a strong series of wins during the preseason, that opinion would change when the 49ers split their first six contests, then lost to the Los Angeles Rams
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
on November 6, 1955. That defeat caused one fan to hang Strader in effigy outside Kezar Stadium
Kezar Stadium
Kezar Stadium is a stadium located adjacent to Kezar Pavilion in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. It is the former home of the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL, and of the San Francisco Dragons of MLL. It also served as the home of the...
, and by the end of the season, the 49ers had won just four of 12 contests, and dealt with reports of continued conflict between the coach and his players. Upon being fired on December 19, Strader disputed such talk by noting that he had been given the game ball in the season's final game.
Death and lawsuit
Strader had only a short time to ponder his future, dying in his sleep of a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
just five months later, the end of cardiac problems that had plagued him for the past two years. On December 12, 1956, Strader's widow, Helen, filed a $27,000 lawsuit against the 49ers, asking for the compensation provided by her husband's contract. Three years later, she received an out-of-court settlement for $18,000.