Ray Flaherty: NFL Pioneer & Pro Football Hall of Famer

Ray Flaherty conquered the early days of professional football as both a formidable player and a mastermind head coach, leading franchises to multiple championships and cementing his legacy against some of the greatest dynasties in gridiron history.

Football Bio

September 1, 1903 – A gridiron legend named Ray Flaherty was born. Ray was both a player and a head coach in the NFL’s early days. He spent 18 years in professional football.

Flaherty played college football at Washington State, and then later transferred to Gonzaga, where he also played a little ball. After school in 1926, he joined the original American Football League.

A team called the L.A. Wildcats played back then, and he played on the defensive line. And shortly after that, he left them and joined the New York Yankees, playing alongside Red Grange. They were often referred to as Red Grange’s New York Yankees in both 1927 and 1928, the years he played.

After his Yankees franchise folded, Ray played in the NFL for the New York Football Giants. When his playing days were over, he took the job of coaching the Boston Redskins in 1936, and in his seven seasons at the helm, his Redskins won two NFL championships and four division titles.

Now, we have to keep this in perspective: a guy named George Hallis had a mighty team called the Chicago Bears back then. They were the dominant team in the NFL in this era. And no matter how dominant they were, Flaherty and the Redskins met them three times in the NFL title game during those seven years. And Flaherty’s team triumphed two out of three times against the vaunted Bears.

After Flaherty left the Redskins, after the 1942 NFL championship game, he went to serve his country in World War II. After the war, Flaherty returned to coach the New York Yankees, a new team in the All-American Football Conference, and quickly led them to two straight AAFC titles.

He coached his final season in 1949 with the AAFC’s Chicago Hornets, concluding a brilliant coaching career with a remarkable record of 80 wins, 37 losses, and 5 ties, for an impressive 676 winning percentage. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined this great coach in the entry class of 1976.

Ray Flaherty leaves behind an undeniable blueprint for gridiron excellence. From pioneering the early professional leagues as a rugged end to engineering championship victories over NFL titans, he forever shaped the tactical evolution of professional football. [ProFootballHOF.com]

Accolades and Football Accomplishments

• Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976.
• Won two NFL Championships as a head coach (1937, 1942).
• Won one NFL Championship as a player with the New York Giants (1934).
• Earned First-team All-Pro honors three times as a player (1928, 1929, 1932).
• Led his teams to four NFL division titles (1936, 1937, 1940, 1942) and two AAFC division titles (1946, 1947).
• Credited with inventing and introducing the screen pass to pro football in 1937.
• Achieved an outstanding .676 winning percentage (80-37-5) over his head coaching career.
• Had his No. 1 jersey retired by the Washington Commanders franchise.

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